5Ds: Rise of the Nether Signer
by AnarchyGunRage
Summary: A hidden race starts to surface again after almost 1000 years in hiding. Some are friends and some are the worst of enemies Yusei and his friends have ever faced. OC Warning!
1. Chapter 1

**Note from the Author:  
Welcome to my 1****st**** attempt at a YuGiOh 5Ds story.  
At the success that my YuGiOh story, The Northgate Tournament as been having, I decided to give this idea a try.  
This plot was originally written by my cousin, but he never found the time to finish it up, so I took over, tweaked up the storyline a bit, modified the Ocs (not dramatically) (yes...they are here) and added my own ending (cause he didn't get that far in the story plot pic). So with my cousin's permission, I am posting my own version of this story!**

**Okay, this project will contain language, violence, suggestive themes and supernatural/occult kind of stuff (cause im all about that shiznit).  
Feedback is appreciated. **

**Enjoy. **

Prologue 

At the dawn of time, the human race lived harmoniously with its counterpart, the pale skinned Nether-Dweller Race. The different between races was the Cultural tradition to paint and burn marks on the faces and bodies of Nether-Dwellers at the dawn of their 1st birthday and elemental powers bestowed upon those with Nether blood.  
The 8 elements bestowed upon the men and women of the Nether race were Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Machinima, Life, Death and Magic.  
Life, Death and Magic were known as the 3 royal elements, bestowed only upon the offspring of leaders, though Machinima had been known to be possessed by leader's children also until the monarch died and the Nether-Signers developed democracy.  
Using these elements, they could travel from their underground home to the surface to serve their kin.

Society was almost Utopian, until the human race acquired a selfish tyrant for a king. This king wanted the Chiefteness of the Nether-Dwellers as his bride. When she refused, he flew into a rage and murdered her in cold blood.  
The Chiefteness was the single, alone Nether-Dweller who possessed the element of Life. With her absence, the home of the Nether-Dweller; dubbed the Lower Berth, started to decay.  
Temple walls once festooned with foliage was rotting into moistened twigs and the fresh air became musty and foul.

The uncomfortable living conditions and severe lack of provisions for families made the Nether-Dwellers uneasy and aggressive as the human race got more selfish. This sparked a long and bloody war between the two races that lasted 4 years. Thousands about people and millions of Nether-Dwellers died. As a result, all Nether-Dweller's were banished from the public eye and driven down to their Lower Berth home; all surface entrances were barricaded and law stated that if any Nether-Dweller was seen on the surfaces world again, they would be killed on site.  
And no Nether-Dwellers have been seen since this event.

Reports of Nether-Dweller's living in secret in our world have been filed, but none have been approved by law. But laws were put in effect, stating that if anyone is to spot a Nether-Dweller, known popularly today as _Nether-Signers_, on the surface they are to call the proper authorities immediately and not to apprehend the dangerous creatures.

...

Chapter 1  
The sun had been down for an hour when a group of rocks in a pile in front of a tree started to shift. Pebble by pebble, a small section in the pile started to crumble more and more until a pale skinned arm came out of it and the torso of a crimson haired Nether-Signer followed it. She gasped at the sudden cold of fresh air and the light of the waning moon. "I'm out!" She said happily.  
She took in the moonlight and air for the first time in her life with extreme pleasure, her green eyes filling with tears of ecstasy. "My dream since I was a child, finally! I'm out!..Oh..." She hushed herself, not knowing if the surface was still dangerous for her or not. All she knew was that those with the same violet colored mark that ran down her face, neck and reaching her hip weren't welcome around there for years.

Her problems increased as she heard voices from the crevice she'd just crawled through. _Where did she get off to?_

_I think she went this way._

Scarlette ran as fast as she could away from the tunnel and into the forest. "I'm not going back there. They can't force me!"  
Her name was Scarlette Noire and she was the first Nether-Signer born into the element of Life since the previous individual years ago. Her mid traps length crimson-poppy hair started to fall out of her pony tail when she doubled over to catch her breath once she was satisfied with the amount of distance she put between herself and where she came from. The free hair prompted her to just tear her up-do apart and let the crimson mess flow free. Her head felt lighter.  
"Now...To find me a home..."

Scarlette had managed to forge herself a home from an abandoned mine shaft and lived there for two months. It was underground, so she was used to it, but it was underneath a forest full of Red Wood trees so it was pleasing to her element to restore them.  
The sudden restoration of the trees was attracting attention from the media of Neo Domino City, but as long as Scarlette wasn't caught on the surface she was content at letting the surface dwellers scratch their heads.

Her new home wasn't much, but it was home to her. She would stay down in the caverns she forged and wait for the sun to go down and she would hide her ethnicity under a pale green cloak hood and climb up to enjoy the surface's forest and air at night.  
However, that night she found herself confronted by a light that traveled that inhuman speed and a voice that yelled at her to get out of the road.  
Scarlette took a few steps out of the way, but the driver of the red bike still paniced and turned off the small path, crashing into the brushes in the process. She watched the driver get tossed off the motorcycle and face first into the dirt.

Scarlette approached the young surface-dweller man slowly, making sure he was really unconscious before she got too close.  
She didn't feel the need to really be afraid of him, but she decided to be cautious anyway. She nudged him three times in the side with her foot and when he didn't respond, she checked his pulse.  
As soon as Scarlette's index and middle finger came into contact with Yusei's neck, his eyes shot open and he grabbed her wrist and tore her to the dirt. Her fight or flight response kicked in and she screamed and punched him dead in the bridge of the nose, knocking her attacker out cold again.

_Oh shoot. _Scarlette thought to herself. _What have I done? That was a total reflex! What do I do now? It's gonna be a while before he comes to again and I can't leave him here, but I can't toss him down the shaft either. That would kill him most likely, it's an awful drop. _She then remembered the main opening to the mine shaft was not far from that point. She grabbed his sleeve to lift his arm out of the dirt and when the surface-dweller remained limp, she grasped his wrist firmly, but gently and started to drag him down the trail, only the moonlight guiding her through the dark.  
_By gosh, he's heavy. _

She'd boarded the entrance to the shaft again after she settled in to avoid arousing more suspicion that the restoration of the trees was getting, only to have to tear her work down board by board to get the surface-dweller inside. She had a good heart, she knew she was risking a lot, including her possible life by interacting with him (which is what she planned to do). She was lonesome and hadn't spoken with a surface-dweller before, so thus curious. She brought him to where she thought he'd be safe before dashing back outside when she remembered he had a bike.

Judging by how well taken care of it was, Scarlette assumed that the surface-dweller wanted his duel-runner taken care of. It was heavy, but she put it up onto its wheels again without much fuss.  
While pushing it down the shaft quickly, but carefully, she couldn't help but look at it with a blown mind. They had Duel-Runners in the Lower Berth, but they were far less advanced technology wise. Being underground and isolated, the Lower Berth's Duel-Runners were run by methods similar to the steam engine due to a lack of resources.

It was fancy, but she didn't touch anything. She wasn't nearly that curious. She parked it in a place where it wouldn't be seen and started towards where she'd put the surface-dweller.  
He was still where she'd put him like she hoped he'd be. No trouble, but what to do now?

...

**Note from the Author:  
I promise it'll get better. **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Hours later and the surface-dweller still hadn't woken up.  
"Man...I hope I didn't hit him _too_ terribly hard." Scarlette said to herself while scratching patterns in the dirt wall before her.  
She looked away from the sleeping young man again and scratch-scratch-scratched, making little symbols in the dirt. Some of the symbols were of the elements; others had no meaning at all and were Scarlette's own personal design.

...

Yusei opened his eyes to see his crimson haired attacker and knew exactly what she was. A Nether-Signer...Good God, a murderous, cold-hearted Nether-Signer. He looked at her just kneeling there, drawing in the dirt wall, wearing a shredded dress that looked like it went out of style ages ago, Victorian almost.  
Yusei thought to himself that this chick must have been kicked out of the Lower-Berth, and judging by how much of a horrid place it was said to be, it must have taken a lot to get kicked out of there...This young woman must have been one cold-hearted monster. He didn't remember much about his crash, but he pieced together that she must have kidnapped him there in attentive to sacrifice him to her Nether-Berth Goddess or whatever they worshipped.

He shifted a little in his own attentive to get off the bed made of who knew what (but was surprisingly comfortable) and made a small noise. As she turned her head, Yusei went limp and played dead.  
"Hey." She had a soft-spoken voice, but Yusei wasn't going to let that make him second guess. Loads of serial killers in history were soft-spoken. "Hey over there...Are you okay?"

Yusei didn't answer and waited for a few moments before he started to hear the scratching of the wall again, he slowly started to raise his head, hoping she was once again preoccupied. She was.  
He slowly got to his feet and decided to face her. If he was going down, he was going to go down fighting. He snuck up behind her slowly.

...

Scarlette turned her head and screamed as she was seized by her forearm and shaken.  
"Who are you?! Where am I?!" He yelled at her.

"I-I-I-I-I'm-" Scarlette stuttered, paralyzed in fear. "You're-You're...U-Un-Under the forest...You know? The one with all the Redwood Trees in it?"

"Okay...Redwoods...Why did you kidnap me?!" He demanded.

"Why'd you almost run me over?!" Scarlette replied. "Who's the maniac now?!"

"I never called your maniac." Her attacker said. "Got a guilty conscious, do you?"

"No-no-no-no-no. No. No." Scarlette reassured him, shaking her head.

"When why bring it up?" He asked, clutching her arm harder, making her squirm in pain.

"You're hurting me!" Scarlette exclaimed. "Please! Let go!"

...

Yusei couldn't believe what was going on. Why wasn't this extremely dangerous creature, barely considered a human being, attacking him? Was she playing him on? Or was she simply not what he thought she was?  
Looking deep into the authentic fear in her eyes, he released his grip on her black sleeved arm. She was more afraid of him then he was of her.

"Thank you." She said once he released her, pulling back her sleeve to observe her arm, hand prints were going to cause minor bruises.

Yusei didn't know what to say to her.  
"Umm...You're welcome."

"You're confused, aren't you?"

"Well...You're a...A..."

"Nether-Dweller?"

Yusei exhaled. "Yes...So why aren't you...Ummm..." Yusei was trying to watch his words.

"Tearing your flesh off with a rusty blade and devouring your heart after showing it to you before I take your eyes?" She said. Her tone was sarcastic, but Yusei still backed away slightly, just in case.

"Yeah... Why not?" Yusei asked.

"Because I'm not a monster...I'm just Scarlette Noire." She replied.

"Scarlette Noire...Is that your name?"

"Of course."

...

"Do you have name?" Scarlette asked him.

"Of course I do!" He said.

"Well? Do you wanna tell me what it is?"

"Why?!" He snapped. "So you can hunt down my family after I'm done?! Here's a newsflash for you, Scarlette...I have no family!"

"Will you stop!?" She snapped back, standing up.

...

Yusei looked down at the Nether-Dweller. She was probably no taller than his friend, Crow.  
"For the last time, I'm not going to harm you!" She continued her statement.

"...Okay." Yusei replied finally. "I'm Yusei."

"Yusei...Okay." When she chuckled at the rhyme she made, Yusei finally understood that she was definitely not a monster, but a young girl and possibly one he could get along with.

...

After a lengthy discussion about why Scarlette dragged Yusei all the way underground and where she stashed is precious bike, they finally came to terms with each other's misunderstandings. She was not going to harm him and he wasn't going to harm her.

"So... Yusei..." Scarlette started, producing a small vile full of clear fluid from her boot. "Now that we're friends...Want your Lymphatic fluid back?"

Yusei screamed at the top of his lungs and caught the vile as she tossed it in the air.  
"OH MY GOD! YOU TOOK MY LYMPHATIC FLUID?! HOW DO I PUT IT BACK?! DO I DRINK IT? WHAT DO I DO?! WHAT DO I DO?! WHAT THE HELL IS LYMPHATIC FLUID?!" Without thinking, Yusei took the cap off the vile and downed the fluid. He paused. "It tastes like water..."

Scarlette then started to laugh. It was a hearty, mirthful laugh, like she thought what happened was profoundly funny.  
"That's because it is!" She stated through her laughing. "Do you really think I'd take your Lymphatic Fluid while you were out? It's the clear part of your blood! Why would I do that? What reason would I have?"

Yusei paused, just looking at her. "You...have a very sick sense of humour..."

"You should meet my sister." Scarlette replied. Soon Yusei was laughing with her.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Man, do I have a head ache." Yusei exclaimed. "You have quite the right hook."

"I am honestly, truthfully, authentically sorry, Yusei." Scarlette reassured. "You scared me and it was a self-defense reflex."

"And you were on the ground too...I'd hate to be punched by you if you got momentum." Yusei replied.

Scarlette blushed slightly.  
"Many say that, but I'm a lover...not fighter. I could never meaningfully harm another living thing."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously...Hell, I cry when someone snaps a twig off a tree. I'm more than one hundred percent harmless."

Jeez. Such a little powerhouse and yet, so peaceful.  
Yusei blinked. "I'll remember that. I know a lot of tree abusers...I'll have to tell them to watch it around you."

"Around me?" Scarlette tilted her head.

"Yeah." Yusei said. "I'm not leaving you down here."

"What do you mean, Yusei?"

"I'm taking you with me. You can stay with my friends and I."

"Yusei-"

"What? You're a nice person, and I don't feel right leaving you down here now that we're friends."

"But Yusei." Scarlette continued. "I'm not welcome around where you live."

"Your people were banished over seven hundred years ago, almost eight hundred if my math and memory serves me right." Yusei protested. "People have long forgotten."

"You didn't." Scarlette said quietly.

"That's not what I mean, Scarlette. What I meant to say was, people have long forgotten about the killing on site law." Yusei clarified. "I wouldn't doubt in the slightest that there will be people up there in the city who will hate you, but you won't be killed."

"I don't know, Yusei."

"Come on, I have friends who will be interested to meet you. The worst thing you'll encounter around them really will be a lot of questions."  
The truth was, Yusei hoped none of this friends were secretly extremists about the Nether-Dwellers.

Scarlette looked at Yusei and hesitated.  
"Okay...I trust you."

"Well that's good, I'm pretty sure I can trust you too." He clutched his head and winced. "Ah! This damn head ache!"

Scarlette walked over to him. "Where does it hurt?"

"It spread out from my forehead, all the way to the back of my head." He answered.

"Hold on." Scarlette put her palm over the top of Yusei's forehead and held the back of his head with her other hand. "Hold still." She said before closing her eyes.  
Yusei was confused. But he obeyed.  
Scarlette cleared her mind, quickly speaking to herself.  
"Anima igne Inferus Dea obsecro, ad vos hodie.  
Scio errorem feci, si placet, illius accipies dolorem."

"What did you say?" Yusei asked before a small rush of heat ran through his forehead and his splitting headache was abolished almost immediately. "Whoa! It's gone! How did- What did you do?"

Scarlette smiled.  
"Nothing... Whenever you're ready to go, I'll go."

Yusei was confused, she just touched him whispered something and whatever she did seemed to lift his headache, a headache that felt painful enough to last weeks. It couldn't have been the Placebo Effect at all, he thought, could it? What did she do?

...

"First things first, Scarlette." Yusei started on the walk to his bike. "Most people won't notice your violet mark at a distance or from first glance, what really gives you away is the freakishly pale skin, no offense and the antique dress. Now, after you're in the sun for a bit, your skin problem will solve its self, it's simple knowledge and science...But the dress? We need to ditch it. Corset and all."

"Huh?"

"Women haven't worn corsets in eons, not in the dress fashion or over the clothes at least." Yusei explained. "In fact, girls around your...our age wear pants nowadays."

Scarlette thought for a while. "Well...I am a decent seamstress. Give me a little bit and I could have this dress converted into something a little more..." She sized Yusei up carefully. "Nowadays? If girls, you said dress like boys..."

Yusei stepped out of the chamber and sat himself down in the catacombs. Once Scarlette was sure he wasn't going to walk back in, she took off her dress and started to tear it into sections before fetching a needle and thread from a bag she kept with her. The bag had an old book, some herbs and sewing supplies in it. Supplies she had looted.  
Scarlette managed to make herself a nice modern style version of her dress. She took the material from her dress that were still in its prime and sewed herself a durable pair of pants with it. She then started to seam-rip her corsets material apart, tossing the innards away.

She looked in between the red fabric in her left hand and the rest of the good black material in her right. After pondering for a few minutes, Scarlette checked her waist and bust size with a piece of threat before starting to improvise herself a bi-colored top. She couldn't have finished up any faster, she was starting to feel a draft.

Yusei felt like he'd been sitting down in the mine shaft for hours, he started to get curious after all the sounds of ripping and tearing he was hearing. "Hey Scarlette? You doing okay in there?"

"Fine." Her voice replied before Scarlette walked around the corner. In the very little light there was, Yusei could see the very modern looking outfit she'd thrown together for herself; black pants and a sleeveless top, black with red trimmings. She also tied some red around her waist for a belt-scarf. The short black boots she was wearing were easily passable.  
Her new outfit revealed to Yusei that her purple mark was different than his yellow mark. Instead of simply running down her cheek from her eye like it looked with the dress, her mark seemed to run all the way down her neck and was also visible on the left, distal side of her abdomen.  
"Are you checking me out, Yusei?"

Yusei made a wheezing sound. He had to change the subject fast. He wasn't 'checking her out', he was just a little fascinated by the fashion of her marks. But he chose not to ask.  
"Wow. I'm impressed. You really sewed that together in under an hour?" He stated.

"You bet." Scarlette reassured. "With no material expect for my old dress."

"You can apparently recover pain through touch and gibberish and now you can sew like a champ with only a needle and thread." Yusei said, clearly flabbergasted. "You got anymore secrets your hiding?"

"Nope." Scarlette giggled. "Now this way to your bike." She finished; throwing her cloak over her head, putting her bag over her shoulder and walking.

During the walk down the tunnels, despite the light deficiency, Yusei could plainly see the look on Scarlette's face; another look of fear.  
"Don't be so nervous." He put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm not nervous." Scarlette said. "I'm simply scared...I've never been on the surface in daylight...And I know my ethnicity makes me anything but welcome up there."

"Just stick with us and you'll be fine." Yusei reassured, prompting Scarlette to smile.

...

Scarlette helped Yusei push his bike back out into the fresh, surface air.  
The new air was overwhelming at first this time, being crisper than the first time she came up. Yusei started his bike, it ran flawlessly.  
"Ready to go, Scarlette?" Yusei asked, putting on his helmet.  
After nodding and pulling her hood further over her face, Scarlette climbed onto the bike behind Yusei and held on to the sides of his jacket, not wanting to violate his personal space.

Once Yusei pulled into the city limits, Scarlette started to keep her head down. Feeling her anxiety, Yusei glanced back at her and gave her a quick nod, lifting her spirits slightly. She trusted that he could keep her safe.  
"Over here, Scarlette." Yusei called her over; she was looking down the street, but responded quickly.

"This is where you live?" She asked.

"Yeah." Yusei answered. "With my two best friends, Jack and Crow." He glanced towards Jacks duel runner and Crows was nowhere in sight. "Looks like you won't be meeting Crow until later."  
He led Scarlette into the shop and again, she looked around and explored like a curious puppy as Yusei headed to the other end of the living space, into the kitchen where the noise was.

Yusei found Bruno in the kitchen.  
"Hey Yusei. Where've you been?" He asked, smiling.

"I...Uhh...crashed somewhere for a bit." Yusei punned. "Where's Jack?"

"I think he's still down around the lower level." Bruno answered. "Why?"

"Because I brought someone here with me."

"Oh? A new friend?" Bruno sounded excited.

"Yeah. And I need to be there for introductions, otherwise we might have a bad misunderstanding."  
Yusei could barely finish his statement when Jack's voice thundered from downstairs, followed by Scarlette's high-pitched scream.

"DIE MONSTER!" Jack shrieked before a gunshot was heard over Scarlette's screaming.

Yusei and Bruno jumped as a hysterical Scarlette zipped up the stairs and hid behind Yusei, frantic to find refuge.  
"Yusei! This maniac is trying to kill me!"

Jack skulked up the stairs after her armed with a hand gun. "I knew this thing would come in handy someday. Now HOLD STILL YOU! I'M A HORRID SHOT!"

Scarlette screamed again and ducked behind Yusei in tears.  
"Jack!" Yusei shouted. "Put the gun down! She's a friend!"

"Yusei!" Jack shouted back. "How dare you bring that...that...thing home with you! Have you the foggiest clue what it is?!"

"She's not an it! She's a she! Her name is Scarlette." Yusei replied over Scarlette's weeping. "And you're scaring her half to death!"

"Oh good god...You made friends with it?!" Jack huffed. "Are you insane?! That thing is a killer! A ticking time bomb for all of us!"

Bruno glanced over at the very small, redheaded girl doubling over while gripping the sides of Yusei's coat for dear life and weeping.  
"She doesn't look like a killer."

Jack pulled back the hammer on the gun, ignoring Bruno's statement.  
"Now move Yusei. I'm gonna paint the walls with this unholy creatures brains."

"Jack...Listen to her." Yusei said as Scarlette continued to sob, starting to shake. "I spent about a day underground with her. If she was really the killer you say she is, do you think I'd be here right now...and for that matter, do you think she'd be acting like this instead of slaughtering all three of us?"

"I'm harmless...I swear." Scarlette managed to speak from behind Yusei. "I don't want any trouble."

"Trust me Jack." Yusei stated. "Scarlette isn't going to hurt any of us. She's pretty much afraid of her own shadow. She needs someone to protect her. I promised her it would be us."

"No." Jack said. "No. No. No. This is harbouring. Do you know how-"

"I know the risks of keeping her here." Yusei said. "If those risks even still exist. It's been close to eight hundred years."

Jack hesitated. After a few minutes of hearing Scarlette whimpering, he switched the pistols safety on. "Fine...Scarlette." He addressed her with venom. "I'll let you off this time if you just shut up...But mark my words...You step out of line once and BAM!" Jack waved the gun at her before turning around and leaving.

Scarlette sniffled, starting to lighten her grip on Yusei.  
"You'll be safe here, you said." She choked. "There'll be hate, but no-one will try to kill you, you said."

"Jack over-reacts all the time." Bruno said as Jack skulked back down the stairs and out of Scarlette's sight. "Don't worry about him."

Scarlette just gawked at Bruno with big green as he introduced himself with a warm smile and held his hand out to her, she was still recovering from shock.  
"Umm...Hello...Bruno." She spoke, looking at his hand. She shakily shook his hand.

...

**Note from the Author: **

**In the little disclaimer in the first chapter, I realized I forgot to mention one more thing this story will have in it eventually. Horror violence.  
Hopefully you all still stick around for the end. ^^ I promise not to disappoint.  
Thanks for all the reviews. I hope to hear from you all every chapter. **

**~Bae. **


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"If she's so sweet and innocent, why doesn't she sit down here with us?" Jack asked from the couch while gawking at Scarlette, who was sitting on the railing of the upper floor.

"Because she's mortified of you." Yusei answered with venom. "She'll come down when she's ready."

Scarlette was straddling the railing, partially because she liked the view of the entire living quarters and partially because she had a nice distance from the maniac who tried to kill her. To Scarlette, Jack could not be trusted until further notice.  
While Yusei and Bruno worked on the mechanics of their duel runners and Jack was staring her down while eating a cup of noodles.  
_Look at her up there...Scheming... _  
"Yusei." Scarlette whined while taking a file out of her bag and starting to file her nails. "Can you please get him to stop staring at me?"

"Jack! Stop making our guest uncomfortable." Bruno said.

"Oh she doesn't know the meaning of being uncomfortable yet." Jack grumbled.  
The rest of his raspy statement was kept inaudible, but Scarlette's anxiety started to rise and as it rose, she filed her nails harder.  
Finally as the conversation kept going, Scarlette filed a little too hard and ended up digging the sharp end into the side of her finger. She yelped, attracting the attention of the three below her.

"Scarlette. You okay?" Yusei asked.

"Fine. It's just a scratch." Scarlette replied. The truth was it was more of a gouge. Blood escaped from around the side of her fingernail at an almost alarming rate. Her solution was to simply put her index finger in her mouth, but the gritty iron taste of her own blood turned her off of the idea. As she wiped small amounts of blood that seemed to continue to not end off her finger, she slowly stepped down the stairs.

"I'm still watching you." Jack stated.

"Jack!" Yusei exclaimed. "Stop it."

Scarlette sat herself against the wall on the bottom step and silently filed her other nails, while ignoring the blood creeping down her index finger.

"Well...It's a start." Bruno said. "I guess she's kind of like a pony...You gotta let her come to you."

"Nice analogy, Bruno." Yusei said in a low tone, but the sound of Scarlette's giggling lightened his mood.

Jack huffed and rolled his eyes.  
"I wonder if anyone else here will be a sucker for _prweetty_ green eyes..."

As if right on cue, Crow rounded the corner and came inside.  
"Hey guys. What's for dinner?" He said.

_Oh man. _Scarlette thought. _Another one of Yusei's friends...I wonder if he's just as friendly as Jack..._

As she tried to tuck herself into the wall in a feeble attempt to stay out of Crow's peripheral vision, he turned his head towards her, making her freeze.  
"Who's the chick?" Crow asked.

"Crow, this is-" Yusei started, but he got cut off when Crow made a squealing noise towards Scarlette.  
Scarlette flinched because she expected the same reaction she got from the last friend she met.

"She's bleeding!" Crow shouted running into a small room off to the side. Scarlette scotched herself up the stairs as he came back into sight and advanced on her.

"Easy, Crow." Bruno said. "She's kind of jumpy."

Crow had with him disinfectant in one hand and a box of band-aids in the other.  
"Are you okay?" He asked as Scarlette kept scooting up a stair to keep a strict four stair distance between her and him. "It's okay...I'm not gonna hurt you."

Scarlette stopped at the top of the stairs and let Crow sit beside her and examine the insignificant injury on her index finger.  
"I'm fine, I'm fine." Scarlette said. "It's just a prick."

"No, no, no." Crow protested. "These guys are the pricks...Not paying any attention to someone who's hurt."

"In our defense, we didn't know she was hurt." Bruno piped.

"And even if we did, she's so jumpy, we wouldn't be able to hold her still." Jack continued.

"What's there to be jumpy about?" Crow asked, applying the disinfectant to a cloth.

"Jack tried to blow her head off pretty much as soon as she walked in the door with Yusei." Bruno answered.

"Jack! That's no way to treat a visitor!" Crow yelled.

"Am I the only one who knows what she is?!" Jack exclaimed.

"What she is? What's wrong with her?" Crow cut Scarlette off as she was breathing in to say something.

"She's a bloody Nether-Dweller!" Jack piped, his words echoing and upsetting Scarlette.

"So?" Was Crows reply.  
Though with different initiative, Scarlette and Jack gave him the same surprised look.

"Wh-What do you mean "so"?" Scarlette spoke.

"Oh, she speaks." Crow joked, making Scarlette blush slightly.

"Crow? Was it?" Scarlette asked, wincing as he applied the disinfectant to her finger.

He jumped with her.  
"Sorry. I should have warned you it would have stung a little." His tone was more than apologetic. "And yes. I'm Crow."

"I'm...I'm Scarlette." She said. She had no idea why her face got warmer the more they conversed.

"Scarlette." Crow repeated. "I like that name. It's a pretty name."

Scarlette blushed. "Thank you..."

A distance of feet underground in the caverns and dark ravines of the Lower Berth, Head Justice Jarrod Noire rallied the Nether-Dwellers in the Berth Square.  
The Lower Berth's streets were torch lit, the homes and establishments of the residents were formed from caves in the walls of the one large cave that was the Berth itself converted into what the Nether-Dwellers could make buildings from the little resources they had.  
The Nether-Dwellers themselves were dressed, as Yusei said, in a Victorian fashion that went out of date eons ago. The men wore either suits and top hats or the less privileged wore trench coats over button up shirts and dark colored pants. The women sported Victorian dresses and class was expressed by the extravagance of the dress. Some women completed their outfits with woman's top hats, they were relatively small and either had a veil sheeting over the eyes of the woman, or no veil at all.  
Woman who were members of the council, such as law enforcement and prosecutors, were permitted to wear shorter dresses to increase mobility as long as the majority of the skin on their legs was covered.

All Nether-Dwellers sported very similar marks on their bodies judging by family ties, but all the men had a stripe over the face and a small diamond mark on the other side of the face and all the women sported a mark that ran down either the front or back of their bodies from the face, some going as far to reach the ankle and either shapes on the other side of the face or on the other side of the belly or both.

"My fellow Nether-Folk." Jarrod addressed the number of others around him. "I regret to inform you all that Orrin Ironherzen, our beloved leader...is dead."

A shocked roar rose from the crowd.  
Head Justice Noire looked back at his family and smiled. As his eldest daughter and the Berth's best public speaker, Claire addressed the people, he retreated with the rest into the leader's hall and closed the doors.

"Nether-Folk." Claire Noire addressed the people. "Fear not. Head Justice Noire is in the process of choosing a new leader for our mists."  
She was a long legged Nether-Dweller, twenty six years of age and a member of the Berth Diet, giving her the right to dress herself is a beige colored short skirt and black crop-top, sock, boot combo. Her hair was brown and tied back in a long ponytail and her eyes were gold, showing her element to be Machinima; the element able to manipulate technology of all forms. Her marks ran to her hip, the addition of two triangles on the left side of her belly and one more under her left eye.

Inside the Leaders hall, a dark building with a large, candle lit interior, Head Justice Noire, known by the others in the room as either Jarrod or father, looked at the group.  
"Now, to address the matter at hand." He said.  
He was a tall, built man who wore a black suit, his hair was black and his eyes were violet; the element of Magic.

"Yes, sir." The group said, he had their undivided attention.

It was a group of seven.  
The first was the brother of Jarrod's late wife, Mashka. His name was Daimler. He was another tall and well built man who wore a vest and dress pants. His hair was ginger tinged and his eyes were yellow; Machinima. One distinguishing characteristic he possessed was a metal arm. His right arm was replaced in his youth with a silver alloy replica after the events of an accident that caused his entire arm, from the shoulder, to be amputated. He was a bitter man.

The second and third was the Greyherzen siblings, Wes and Liliandra. Wes was older and a high priest of the Death element. He was tall, lanky and pale with black hair and white eyes. He was cold hearted and self-centered, but Jarrod thought him to be a suitable husband for his youngest daughter, who was Scarlette. He dressed himself in a black priest smock.  
Liliandra, known by some as Lily for short, was different than her brother; she was tall also, but a simple seamstress who possessed the element of Magic. Her hair was black, her eyes were violet and she was kind hearted, but clumsy in the spell-casting department. She was clad in a long white and black dress that made her seem like a maid, as Wes often taunted.

The fourth and fifth was Dran and Daphne, Jarrod's twin, second eldest children. They were both tall and clad in black. The twins shared Mercenary work together. Dran was a well built young man. He and his sister were twenty three years of age. He wore a black trench coat with a button up shirt and black pants. His hair was cut short and brown; his eyes were also brown, showing his element to be Earth.  
Daphne had long, wavy brown hair and brown eyes; also Earth, she dressed herself in a black corseted short dress that was layered with a visible, poufy crinoline, net stockings, boots and a veiled hat.

The sixth of the group was Amilya, she was the next youngest of Jarrod's children at the age of twenty one years. She was almost a half-foot shorter than Daphne (who was a little more than an inch shorter than her twin brother) and had sparkling violet eyes exploding with her magic element and white hair that brushed her shoulders. She dressed herself in a sleeveless corseted dress that was dark purple in color and had a poufy bottom, like a prom dress some would say.

The seventh, final member of the group was a Death element woman by the name of Daemia Gillesphery. She was the lover of Jarrod and a very silent individual. She dressed herself in an elaborate black and white dress that matched not so nicely with her white eyes and black hair. Over her unruly looking hair, she wore a non veiled hat and her sleeves were nets.

Jarrod continued to his choir.  
"The matter at hand is the disappearance of my second daughter." He said. "First we lose Sable, my second youngest, two months back and we were unable to recover her. My beloved Sable is pronounced dead and now my youngest and most precious; Scarlette has seemed to have disappeared out of our Berth. And on the eve of her wedding to High Priest Greyherzen. My condolences, Wes."

"No, Judge." Wes said in his cold, emotionless sounding voice and giving a bow. "My condolences go to you, sir. I know how much young Scarlette meant to you."

"We will do everything we can to find her and bring her back home safely, father." Daphne reassured.

"But first, we will have our top trackers locate her whereabouts." Dran added, getting a nod from his twin.

"We all promise you." Amilya said, nodding in response to her siblings. "Scarlette will not suffer the same fate as Sable did on that wretched world that lies above us. She will be home to be married."

Once the group was dismissed, Wes arrived home in the Death district, accepting a visit from his sister.  
"I'm deeply in sorrow for the loss of Scarlette, brother." Lily said, putting her hand on her heart. "You must miss your love, dearly."

Wes scoffed. "Love. What love? I can hardly stand to be near the little pest."

"I'm sorry, brother...Im confused."

"Sister, you are a fool to think I'm marrying Scarlette for her looks, or for her soul, or for love." Wes said, looking down at the burning fire in the fire place. "I requested Scarlette's hand from Judge Noire because I want Scarlette's element."

Lily covered her mouth in horror and spoke shakily through her fingers.  
"Brother...You don't think...You're not planning to try...No."

"Sister...With Scarlette's element, and the right kind of incantations in a properly executed ceremony..." Wes' already dead eyes, started to grow deeper and more emotionless. "She can birth the Nether Berth Goddess...The very same Goddess that will lead our people to siege over the surface...We will reclaim what our ancestors had stolen from them long ago."

Lily lowered her hand and kept her horrified look. "Brother...You can't-"

She was cut off when Wes seized her by the throat and hissed in her hear.  
"If you tell anyone of what I told you here tonight...Rest assured, sister...I shall see you cast into the Sub Berth. Are we clear?"

Lily gulped the best she could. "Y-Yes, brother."  
She gasped as Wes dropped her and she knelt by the fire place.

"You may show yourself out, sister..." Wes stated before leaving her alone in the room.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

As the day progressed, Scarlette began to grow more comfortable moving around and investigating what the boys were doing (as long as she had a safe distance from Jack, or had someone in between her and the individual). She was intrigued by Yusei and Bruno working on new engine programs, she'd seen her sister, Claire work on some minor technologies (it was her role as an engineer and Machinima elemental), but what intrigued her was how advanced the technology was on the surface.  
"My word, girl." Jack exclaimed in Scarlette's direction, making her jump. "You'd think you've never seen a computer or a Duel Runner before."

"Well..." Scarlette answered. "Down at the Berth, we do have technology like this and Duel Runners...But only Machinima's are allowed having a Duel Runner if he or she makes it personally and your technology is a lot more advanced than ours..."

"Not surprising." Bruno said. "You've all been trapped underground for eons."

"How did you even get out?" Crow asked. "And why did you take the risk coming up here? Surely there would be consequences down there too...Right?"

Scarlette felt her cheeks getting warm again as she sat herself down on the arm of the couch beside Crow and exhaled.  
"Well...Alright...I'll tell my story..."

...

It was a few weeks back in the Lower Berth.  
Scarlette sat in her finest dress as Amilya stood behind her and brushed her hair. Scarlette stared at herself in the vanity mirror. Not every day her father wanted her to suddenly look her very best, eyes decorated with glitter and more consistent eyeliner than Scarlette preferred and her hair up in multiple braids to be tied back in her usual ponytail. Her bangs weren't even allowed to hang over her forehead, eyes and cheeks like she liked.  
"Mia. Why does Judge Jarrod want me like this?"

"I'm not sure." Amilya answered, tying Scarlette's multiple braids in a ribbon.

Scarlette stood up and met Daphne in the doorway. She was wearing a long black dress instead of her usual short skirt and crinoline.  
The three sisters walked to the Court Hall, where Jarrod was with Wes at his side.

"Good. You made it, Scarlette." Jarrod said, taking her by her small hand. Scarlette smiled up at her father, but the smile disappeared and melted into a horrified stare at his next words. "This is Wes Greyherzen. He will soon to your husband."

Scarlette looked at Wes, this was the first time she'd met him. Something about him terrified her; it was either his element, or the cold look he gave her as he shook her hand.

Daphne brought Scarlette some tea that night, looking at the blank look in her sisters eyes.  
"Scarlette...You shouldn't marry someone you don't love, let alone someone you just met tonight."

"What am I going to do, Daphne?" Scarlette wept.

"Oh, sister..." Daphne patted her sister's head. After a long pause she spoke again. "Sable."

"Sable?" Scarlette repeated, confused. "What about her?"

"I helped her escape. And I'll help you escape too."

"Daphne..."

"Just listen...Tomorrow, after the public prosecution, I want you to meet me in the outskirts of the Machinima district." Daphne said.  
Scarlette understood.

The next day, Scarlette, like a majority of the other Nether-Dwellers had to gather to the Berth Square to watch Daphne whip another Earth elemental to death. He had been found guilty of trying to tunnel out of the Berth. This made Scarlette nervous enough to reconsider meeting Daphne afterwards.  
After much self-coaxing, Scarlette snuck off to the outskirts of the Machinima district, like Daphne had said and met Dran in the opening of a tunnel.  
"Dran. You're here too?" Scarlette asked, hoping he knew about what was happening.

"Do you really think Daphne could keep anything from her twin?" Dran asked. Scarlette got nervous. "And do you really think I wouldn't want what's best for you like I wanted what was best for Sable?" He added. Scarlette exhaled in relief.

Scarlette's big brother took her under his arm and led what felt like miles down the tunnel. At the end, Daphne was digging.  
"Alright little sister... I've done all I can." Daphne said. Her clothes were full of dirt and some areas on her nylons were torn. "It'll take you no more than 4 hours to finish tunneling to the surface. Dran and I are going to be late for our briefing."

Giving Scarlette one last kiss on the forehead, Dran and Daphne joined hands and dashed down the dark tunnel. Scarlette crawled into the smaller tunnel and dug until she reached the fresh aired, moonlit surface.

...

"So you ran away from home, defying law on both here and down there...just to escape from getting married?" Crow asked. "Pardon me if I sound confused."

"You don't understand..." Scarlette said, her eyes glazed with fear. "There was something reflecting in his eyes and it wasn't love or even interest in merely me."

After a lengthy silence, Yusei spoke.  
"Okay Scarlette. You can hide out here for as long as you need to, as I said before."

"Oh yes, by all means...Let's harbor a Nether-Dweller!" Jack exclaimed in anger.

"Stop it Jack! You'll upset her." Crow snapped.

"You're all smitten, aren't you?" Jack addressed the group. "Her eyes are her siren spell. All she has to do is flutter those pretty emerald orbs and all of you melt. Is that what this is?! She is a monster!"

"Jack!" Yusei shouted. "That's enough!"

Despite the repeated negativity from the others, Jack continued to advance on Scarlette with his verbal attacks. "That's the whole reason her entire bloody race has been hidden for the past eons and a half and it's been illegal for them to set foot on surface soil. What she needs to do is crawl back into the hole where she came from!"

Without words, Scarlette fled out the door before she started to burst into tears. She didn't even grab her cloak and found herself in the midst of a group of individuals in matching garments. They shouted the same labels and statements that Jack had been throwing at her.  
"Wench!  
Unholy Creature!  
Monster!  
Burn it!  
Kill it!  
Send it to hell!"

Scarlette then found herself being dragged into a church. She was then beaten down and stripped of every inch of clothing she had. Judging by how old fashioned this group of extremists was, Scarlette knew what was coming next.  
"Please! I beg of you! Let me die with dignity!" She cried, leaning forward on her knees while covering her chest with her arms to hide herself.  
In response, the group sent a small young man with long black hair in a ponytail to give Scarlette an old, dirty and unflattering communion dress to wear. It hung low on her shoulders. She looked into the deep, dark purple colored eyes of the young man, who looked about her age. "Help me." She pleaded. The young man just put his head down and silently turned around to take his place back in the group.

The extremists started to throw rocks at Scarlette, cutting gashes in her arms, shoulders and one even shot put a small but bleeding cut on Scarlette's forehead.  
Once Scarlette heard the alpha of the group give the order to fetch the oil, her only instinct was to scream until her throat got sore.  
Her prayers for help were answered when Yusei, Bruno and Crow seemed to burst through the front double doors.  
"What's going on here?" Bruno thundered. "Let her go!"

"This is a private ceremony, boys." A female extremist stated. "Leave now or suffer the consequences."

"I choose the consequences!" Crow said, cracking his knuckles. "Bring 'em on!"

"No. We don't want to resolve this violently." The young man Scarlette pleaded for help to spoke up. "Especially in here...This is a church...Is it not?! God damn it people! You told me this was a house of redemption and help for the lost!" He gestured towards the battered and beaten down Scarlette. "If this is redemption...Then I have no reason to start believing in your God." He finished boldly before turning back into the quiet, meek living ghost he was before.

The Lead Extremist paused and looked at Yusei, Bruno and Crow.  
"You know the risks of keeping her up here and alive?" The elderly man asked.

"Yes." All three answered.

"Fine...Take her...But be warned." He said, as the group started to disperse. "It starts with one...Where will it end?"

Once all the extremists were gone, the only one remaining was the same one who listened to and stood up for Scarlette. He was trying to help her stand with little to no luck.  
Crow skittered over to help and soon Scarlette was supported enough to stand with her shaky legs. Stress and injuries had drained her almost completely.  
"Hey thanks for helping out, friend." Crow said to the young man, who seemed to raise an eye brow at whoever talked to him. "What's your name?"

"Cyan...and I'm not your friend." He snapped.

"Fine...Geez." Crow muttered.

Scarlette was carried back to Yusei, Jack and Crows home before Cyan let Crow take all of Scarlette's weight and left without any words. Dismissing it as odd occurrences, Yusei and Bruno opened the door letting Crow guide Scarlette inside.

...

**Note from the Author:  
Cyan is an OC that belongs to a very good friend of mine and don't worry...we haven't seen the last of him. XD**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Crow brought Scarlette to the couch and let her sit. Jack followed the group up the stairs and looked at her with her like she'd fell and scrapped her knee.  
"What happened to you now?"

Scarlette stayed silent, the trauma still taking its toll.  
Crow felt obligated to speak for her. "This is your fault, Jack!"

"Nobody's at fault, Crow." Yusei objected.

"I am." Scarlette said, pulling at the itchy dress. "I should have known better."

Yusei was angry.  
"I can't believe what I saw...How could people still be like that in this day and age? Forming a circle around you like that and throwing rocks."

"Yeah. It's nuts." Crow added. "Forming circles around a person is for dancing, not rock throwing!"

Scarlette stayed silent as Yusei, Bruno and Crow looked down at her pitiful form. Battered, bruised, cut and dirty and her hair in a mess; looking like she'd been dragged through a dirt road for miles.  
"We need to get her cleaned up and some new clothes." Bruno spoke.

"Maybe Akiza can get some clothes for her." Yusei said, picking up the phone. "For now you can just get showered off, Scarlette."

"Okay." Scarlette replied, standing weakly. Yusei reminded her where the bathroom was and she slowly retreated there.

While Yusei talked with Akiza through the phone, Bruno, Crow and Jack sat quietly. They were unsure on what exactly to converse about at that moment. Bruno was upset over the events, Crow was concerned about Scarlette's trauma and deep down Jack felt bad for his behavior. However, mere second thoughts about one Nether-Dweller couldn't shake his lifelong beliefs about the race.

After a few minutes, Scarlette slowly came out of the bathroom. She was in a towel and still dirty and dry. A light pink blush on her cheeks.  
"This is embarrassing, but I can't figure out how to work the shower...How do I switch it from bath to shower?"

Crow stood up. "It's no problem, Scarlette. I'll show you."

"Thank you, Crow." Scarlette said quietly as he followed her back to the bathroom.

"It's simple to figure out." Crow reassured. "You don't have showers down there? How do you stay clean at home?"

"Well, it depends on your class." Scarlette replied. "The more privileged have bathtubs and the less privileged have buckets to put water in and a front yard."

"Seriously?"

"Sadly, yes."

"And what category did you fall into?" Crow asked realizing that the switch on the faucet was stuck again.

"The lesser privileged, until after my father became a Judge that is..." Scarlette said. "But that's not important enough for you to need to hear. Did you figure out the shower yet?"

"Yeah, sometimes it gets stuck and you need to jiggle it a little." Crow explained, switching the shower on. "Eventually you'll be able to just switch it over...we really need to get that fixed."

"I really appreciate it, Crow. I know how awkward this must be." Scarlette said, hoping behind the curtain into the warm water.

"You're welcome Scarl-" Crow started before realizing what she'd done and quickly reaching for the door, blushing madly. "Oh, you're just gonna jump in right now with me here? Okay, that's fine. You do that. See you when you're done. Take your time." He quickly shut the door and shook his head. "Not shy at all, are you Scarlette? Wow."

...

After a while, Akiza arrived on location with a bag of newly bought clothes. Leo and Luna were following her.  
"Why did Yusei need you to buy girls clothes?" Luna asked.

"I don't know...He said he'd explain once we get there." Akiza answered. She opened the door. "Are you here Yusei?"

"Yusei!" Leo called.

"Up here, guys." Yusei called from the upper floor.

Akiza followed the twins up the stairs and held the bag to Yusei. "Here are the clothes you asked for. Now will you explain why you needed them?"

"Well there's no easy way to explain this." Yusei said before Scarlette appeared clad in a towel once more, a lot cleaner looking.

"I don't think I've ever felt this clean." Scarlette said before realizing the three new faces in the room. She froze.

Akiza and Luna shrieked in minor terror.  
"Is that a-Is that a-" Akiza stuttered, pointing a shaking finger at Scarlette. "Is...that...a-"

"Cool!" Leo exclaimed. "A Nether-Dweller!"

"Cool?" Scarlette repeated; a little confused. Why was a child so enticed and not terrified like the other two?

"I've always wanted to see one for real!" Leo stated, practically jumping up and down and excitedly studying Scarlette. "I didn't even know if there were any still around out there!"

"Yusei!" Akiza wheezed. "What is she doing here?!"

"Relax, Akiza." Yusei answered. "It's fine. Her name is Scarlette. She's harmless. She's gonna be staying with us for a while."

Akiza was still dumbfounded. "Do you-"

"Yes. We all know what she is." Crow cut in.

"I promise you..." Scarlette said. "I won't hurt anybody...I can't. It's not in my nature."

Jack scoffed, receiving dirty looks from Yusei, Bruno, Crow and even Leo.  
"Come on, Leo. Not you too!"

"Jack..." Yusei warned, starting to get a headache.

Akiza slowly approached Scarlette, who backed away slightly. "Hello." She said, holding out a hand to Scarlette. "I'm sorry about screaming like that..."

"Me too." Luna added. "It's just-"

"No, no." Scarlette said with a smile. "I understand. I am a big, scary Nether-Dweller."

Akiza and Scarlette each shook the others hand.  
"I'm Akiza."

The twins also introduced themselves before the questions started shooting out of Leo like mortar.  
"So do you have powers? Is the whole elements thing true? How come we never heard of some of your elements? Are they real elements up here, or is it a down there kind of thing? What's the place where you live called again? I heard the Goddess you all worship has no face. Is that true? How did it happen? Do you know?"

Scarlette didn't know where to start. She just blinked at Leo with her mouth slightly open, wanting to answer, when Crow came up behind her and took her by the shoulders. She jumped, but then felt her cheeks warming up again.  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down Leo." Crow said. "I'm sure Scarlette will be thrilled to answer all your questions the best she can...But maybe you should wait a few minutes until she's less...technically naked."

Scarlette remembered she was standing out there in nothing but a towel and blushed with the rest of her peers.  
"I suppose the clothes are for her." Akiza stated.

"Yeah." Yusei responded. "Sorry if I confused you by only asking for girl clothes and not explaining."

"No, I get it...Having a Nether-Dweller here is very...unexplainable." Akiza said before smiling and laughing. She offered the bag of clothes to Scarlette. "I hope they fit...It seems like you have no more clothes."

Scarlette didn't know that Yusei had arranged to get her new clothes, let alone, brand new clothes. She didn't know who to talk to. "Thank you." She said, gesturing to both of them. "I will repay the both of you."  
Yusei and Akiza both giggled off her offer, stating it was no trouble and shooing back into the bathroom to try on the clothes.

Still in the towel, Scarlette started to rummage through the medium sized paper bag. The contents of the bag was three outfits; three pairs of pants in black, grey and dark blue, one long sleeved top in black with some blue and red in it and two sleeveless tops, one in white and one in red, a red belt and a black belt and a black pair of boots. Every bit of clothing that she needed.  
Scarlette selected the black set of under clothes and paired up the white top with the grey pants and lastly putting on the boots. She stood up straight and stretched to see how the clothes felt.

Outside in the living room, Jack was still all against the idea of keeping a Nether-Dweller under their roof.  
"Let alone buying her things. It's like a stray animal...if you feed it, it'll come back."

"And we're gonna feed her Jack." Crow said. "Whether you agree or not, the rest of us like her. We're keeping her around."

"She's clearly not gonna kill us." Bruno reassured. "She's too peaceful to even defend herself from danger, for Pete's sake!"

"This is all ridiculous." Jack huffed, getting up and heading down the stairs. "I'm leaving!" He went down to his Duel Runner, started it and was gone.

Scarlette stood behind the group as they watched Jack leave in distain.  
"I didn't upset Jack again, did I?" She asked, drawing attention to her.  
Her question wasn't answered. Instead, she got feedback on what the new clothes she'd received looked like.

"Looks to me like Akiza got your sizes right on the money." Yusei stated.

"Very cute." Akiza added.  
Those were the two statements in the barrage of synced-up voices from the group.

"The top feels a little snug, but I can live with it." Scarlette exclaimed, with a small smile. "Thank you both again, Yusei and Akiza."

When the group before her all smiled at her collectively, Scarlette exhaled in happiness. She had found friends.


	7. Chapter 7

**Note from the Author:  
Thanks to everyone for the reviews, keep them coming. ^^  
I would like to thank Kwazy again for allowing me to use her OC, Cyan. ^^ We will be seeing a lot more of him.  
Why all the frequent updates? I have way too much time on my hands right now. I'm living with my relatives right now, no money, no job, no more school, and nobody wants to hire me cause I have MDD/AD (Major Depressive Disorder/Anxiety Disorder). BUT the writing is helping me cope.  
So prepare for A LOT of updates. **

**Anyways. On with Scarlette's journey. Time for twists, turns and trouble. XD  
Read on, my friends.  
~Bae. **

Chapter 7

As the last few hours of the day went on, a letter came for Yusei asking him to meet Rally and the old gang on the other side of town. The whole group wanted to join him for a ride and Crow offered Scarlette a place on his Duel Runner. Scarlette gave it some thought and agreed.  
"I'd like to explore the city some more." She said happily.

Her excitement was shattered when three teens drove by in a white car. The teen in the passenger seat and the one in the back seat hung themselves out the side windows; each one had something white in hand.  
The two threw the white wads at Scarlette, hitting her in the forehead and chest with sticky, cold residue underneath the hard shells; Eggs.  
The back seat teen yelled towards her as they sped off: "PUT THAT THING BACK IN THE GROUND WHERE IT BELONGS!"

"Hey!" Akiza shrieked at the car, but it was already gone.

"Did anyone get the licence plate number?" Luna asked quietly.

Scarlette stood frozen, wiping egg innards from her eyes repeatedly. She half expected something like this to happen, but she couldn't help but gasp at the feeling in her throat. She burst into tears and ran back to inside sanctuary, sobbing.  
Crow was the first after her, but everyone piled back inside to follow.  
"Some people!" Crow exclaimed in frustration. He followed the sound of Scarlette weeping to find her hiding under the table upstairs. "Scarlette...Don't let them get to you. You know you're great and don't have to go back if you don't want to."

"Everyone is either afraid of me or wants to kill me!" Scarlette sobbed, still sweeping drips of egg off her face.

"Hey...Hey...Hey." Crow protested, grabbing a cloth from the kitchen cupboard and wetting it with warm water. "They're only afraid of you until they get to know the real you and not the stories they've heard from the dark ages." He reached his hand out to her. "Come out from under there."  
Scarlette crawled out from under the table, but stayed on her knees, keeping her head down and continuing to sob. Crow lowered himself to his own knees and raised Scarlettes chin gently.

Scarlettes face warmed to feverish heights as Crow cleaned the egg yolk off her face and the top of her head.  
"I just wish everyone would understand that things have changed. Not all of us are still nearly as angry."

"And I always assumed you guys would be the most angry, being banished underground and all...I don't see how people can't just, you know...move on. Like you guys did." Crow replied, brushing the last bit of yolk out of Scarlettes hairline. "There...Now do me a favor and dry those tears...or use this cloth to make the rest of you face wet so nobody notices the tears." He finished, putting the cloth over Scarlettes face. She lifted the cloth off and revealed a small grin on her face. Her small grin caused Crow to beam. "There she is."

Scarlette laughed. "I think I'll stay here. Take another shower and get some clean clothes."

"You sure you can figure out the shower this time?" Crow chuckled, causing Scarlette to roll her eyes.  
Crow made his way down the stairs telling Scarlette they wouldn't be long, only to meet everyone and their grinning faces.  
"What?" He asked. "What's everyone smiling at?"

"Oh nothing." Bruno answered.

...

To pass the time, Scarlette found herself a book to read on the shelf. "Sparkly vampires?" She asked herself, looking perturbed down at the pages. "Who in the right mind would read this garbage?"  
Just then, the large garage door came up and Scarlette put the book back quickly and peered over the top floor and saw Jack parking the bike and closing up the door.  
Scarlette ducked down behind the corner quickly as Jack was turning his head towards her and stayed still.  
"I saw you!" Jacks voice thundered from the lower floor.

Scarlette paused before replying with: "No you didn't."

"Well, even if I didn't see you...I know you're here now." Jack responded, crossing his arms.

Scarlette paused again before responding with: "No you don't..."

Jack shook his head. "Why are you so childish, Scarlette?"

"Why are you so unkind?" Scarlette retaliated. The next thing she knew, Jack was making his way up the stairs. She scrambled to the table and picked up a chair, holding the legs towards Jack, jabbing at him with it. "Stay back!"

"Are you kidding me?"

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

"PUT THE CHAIR DOWN!"

"NO! YOU'RE GONNA KILL ME!"

"STOP SCREAMING AT ME, SCARLETTE!"

"NO!"

"LET'S TRY AND SETTLE THIS LIKE ADULTS HERE!"

"NO!" Scarlette yelled, throwing the chair.

"HEY!" Jack yelled, ducking the chair."NOT HELPING! THE THROWING STUFF AT ME!"

Scarlette picked up another chair and held it like a baseball bat by one of its legs. "Stay...Away..."

Jack sighed. "Look...I'm not gonna hurt you."

"HA!" Scarlette huffed. "Yeah...Right. Says the guy who held a gun to my eye...and chose to say 'die monster' instead of 'hello'."

"I'm sorry about that...Just you startled me." Jack explained, softening his tone; something he didn't usually do, but Scarlette was armed with a chair and seemed to be scared of him for reasons he didn't know.

"I startled you?!...I startled you?!" Scarlette repeated. "I...startled-"

"Okay, okay, enough." Jack said. "I already said I was sorry...Isn't that enough? Now...Put the chair down and let's start over..."

Scarlette locked eyes with Jack for a few moments and sensed no hostility at that moment. She lowered the chair, letting it to the floor with a small thud.  
"Okay...But you have to stay over there."

"Fair enough..." Jack replied. He paused, heaving a heavy sigh. "Hello." He continued in a tone splashed with sarcasm. "My name is Jack. What's your name?"

"You must think I'm stupid." Scarlette said quietly, feeling agitation rise in her chest. "You think I can't recognize sarcasm?! Screw you, Jack!" She crossed her arms and turned away from him.

Jack shook his head.  
"Look here Scarlette...It's late, I'm tired and you've given me a headache. I'm supposing I should find you a place to sleep..."  
With that, he embarked on a completely effortless search. He returned to Scarlette with a pillow and one blanket, which he tossed on the kitchen table. "There."

Scarlette had slept on worse in the past, but she couldn't help but look up at Jack and raise an eyebrow. He stated that she would be comfortable and left for his bedroom, shutting off all the lights and leaving Scarlette in the dark without warning.  
She crawled on to the table top and let herself drift to sleep.

...

Scarlette roused later to the sound of Yusei, Bruno and Crow talking. However, Yusei and Crow came to a silent stop when they saw Scarlette on the table. Scarlettes eyes were still closed, so she couldn't see the perturbed looks they had on their faces.  
"Ridiculous." Yusei huffed. "I'll be talking to Jack tomorrow."

"This is not right..." Crow whispered before shaking Scarlette gently by the shoulder. "Scarlette, Wake up."

Scarlette stretched uncomfortably and sat up before opening her eyes to see Crow and Yusei.  
"Why are you sleeping on the table?" Yusei asked. "Did Jack put you here?"

"Yes." Scarlette answered tiredly. "Why do you ask? I'm okay."

Before Yusei could reply, Crow spoke up.  
"It's not right for you to sleep on the kitchen table, Scarlette. You can have my bed while you're here."

Scarlette gasped. "No, no, no. It's alright. I'm fine here."

"No. I insist." Crow said. "I have a spare mattress under my bed. I'll take it in another room."

"Then let me have the mattress." Scarlette argued. Yusei just sat back and watched.

"No. The mattress stinks. You won't have a nice sleep on it."

"Crow..."

"I won't take no for an answer." Crow stated. Scarlettes silence made his sigh. "Okay...If it's what you want, you can stay here and we'll figure something out tomorrow?"

"Sounds good to me." Scarlette said laying back down. "Good night guys."

"Good night." Yusei and Crow replied.

"Good night Scarlette." Brunos voice echoed from downstairs.

Scarlette giggled. "Good night Bruno."

...

A little under an hour later, Yusei walked past Crows room to see him setting up the mattress in the far corner to the side of his bed.  
"Whatever happened to moving it to another room, Crow?"

Crow hung his head and scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. "I couldn't-for the life of me-get it out the door...So I said screw it."

"Isn't it gonna be a bit awkward for you to sleep in the same room as her?" Yusei asked, leaning on the side of the door.

"So what if she's a girl." Crow replied, still at work with the mattress. "Why would it be awkward for me?"

"Crow...You obviously like her..." Yusei replied.

Crow blushed lightly.  
"Platonically, yeah. I really do like her."

"Platonically?" Yusei said. "Okay...Good luck getting her up here."

"It'll be easy." Crow said with an over confident laugh.

Crow managed to get back down to the kitchen without waking Scarlette, now for the hard part; picking her up and getting her up the ladder without waking her.  
He moved the blanket and hoping she was a medially heavy sleeper, carefully slid his arms under her shoulders and knees. Crow couldn't decide which was colder, her skin or the table, which made him more angry with Jack.  
Scarlette moved her head and groaned lightly, which made Crow freeze and bite his lip. When he was sure she was still fast asleep he commenced to pick the surprisingly light redheaded girl up and hold her bridal fashioned.

"See?" Crow whispered quietly, more to himself than Scarlette. "I told you I wouldn't take no for an answer..."  
Still hoping she was a heavy sleeper, he gently placed her half-way over his shoulder so he could sneak her up the ladder, which was not going to be easy. Before starting the climb, Crow let Scarlette breathe on his neck for a few minutes to note the pattern; he would stop climbing and stand still whenever the patterns changed to assure she stayed asleep.  
'I can't believe I'm actually doing this.' Crow thought to himself reaching the top of the ladder and placing Scarlette on the floor at the top to hoist himself up.

"Wow." Yusei whispered, peering out his door; that was across the hall from Crows. "I can't believe she slept through that."

"You watched me the whole time and never helped?" Crow whispered back. "You jerk."  
Yusei smiled as Crow picked Scarlettes limp, sleeping body again and packed her to his bed, placing her on it and covering her with the blanket.  
"I've never worked that hard in a while." Crow whispered, panting as quietly as he could and plopping down on the mattress. "But I couldn't just leave her on the table."

"Good night Crow." Yusei whispered.

"Good night."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Scarlette opened her eyes and lazily rolled over on her side, realizing that she was on a bed and not the table. She sat up so fast she gave herself a head rush.  
"Where-" She looked around the room and spotted the mattress on the floor. Empty, but it had definitely been slept on. "Crow..." She said with a small smile on her face and feeling heat in her cheeks again.  
She got up and walked down the hall, seeing the ladder down to the kitchen. Wondering how Crow got her up there, Scarlette knelt down at the sound of his angry voice. It sounded like it was coming from the floor below the kitchen.

"There you are, Jack! I have a bone to pick with you!"

"What's got your knickers in a twist this morning?" Jack snapped. "Doesn't anyone say hello anymore?" (These statements made Scarlette roll her eyes.)

"What were you thinking when you put Scarlette to sleep on the table?!" Crow thundered.

"Do you really want to know?" Jack sighed. "In that case...My thoughts were: 'And for our next course, we'll be having small, redheaded Nether-girl.' Happy?"

"Oh sure...The first time you're ever humorous and you gotta be sadistic about it!"

Scarlette crawled down the ladder and met Bruno and Yusei.  
Bruno was cleaning up after breakfast and Yusei was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee.  
"Good morning, Scarlette." Bruno said.  
Scarlette shushed him involuntarily and crossed over to the railing by the stairs and watched Crow and Jack.

"Well. I thought it was funny." Jack stated.

"We don't want to eat her, Jack!" Crow snapped. "Food and cards go on the table. Not guests!" Spotting Scarlette above, Crow stated that he was ending the conversation and Jack walked outside.  
"Hey Scarlette." He addressed.

"How did you get me up there?" Scarlette asked, pointing at the ladder.

"How did you sleep?" Crow counter-asked.

"Answer my question." Scarlette replied, putting her hands on her hips.

"You answer mine first." Crow argued, crossing his arms.  
There was a stare down between the two for a few moments until Scarlette giggled.

"I slept wonderfully." She finally said.

"Good." Crow replied, making his way up the stairs towards her. "It wasn't easy at all to carry you up there. But I didn't feel right just leaving you on the table."

Scarlette blushed lightly. "Thank you. You didn't have to go through all the trouble."

"I just said it wasn't easy." Crow stated. "I never said it was trouble."

At the table, Bruno leaned towards Yusei to whisper.  
"The two of them are adorable."

Yusei watched Crow and Scarlette for a few moments before nodding.  
"Hey Scarlette." He spoke up. "We saved some breakfast for you. Do you like toast or eggs?"

Scarlette shrugged. "I don't know."

"I'm sorry, what?" Bruno replied.

"The eggs didn't taste so well on my face, and I've never had toast before." Scarlette clarified.

Bruno blinked.  
"First off...Eggs taste ten million times better cooked than raw...and second... What do you people eat?"

Scarlette looked at the ceiling, in deep thought.  
"Roots...Ginger...Some of us manage to grow and sell small potatoes...Animals that we farm down there...Mostly horses and ponies, sadly...And some of the housewives founds out how to make some soups from the water that we filter from what seeps from the rivers and lakes...That's about it. Not much to eat or even breathe down at the Berth." She shrugged again. "I'm sure most of the food you have will be new to me."

"Could that be why your skin has such a greyish color to it?" Crow asked. "Malnutrition?"  
It was difficult to see on Scarlette, but her skin did sport a light grey pigment, mostly around her cheeks; this made it obvious when she blushed, Crow noticed.

"Yes, actually...Some believe that the lack of resources we have causes our skin to create a greyish or even bluish pigment." Scarlette explained. "We call it Berth Cyanosis."

"That's an actual medical term..." Bruno spoke.

"Yeah." Scarlette supported.

"Well, what were you eating when you were living in that mine shaft?" Yusei asked her.

"Roots, some mint plants I restored and farmed and whatever I could hunt." Scarlette answered. "It was no trouble." She added, seeing the three guys with shocked faces. "I don't eat much anyways."

Crow put his arm around Scarlette's shoulders and held her close, making her cheeks flare up.  
"Well, welcome to the surface. There's tons of good thing up here, but don't get crazy."

"You don't think I don't know what you mean." Scarlette said, making Crow shift his eyes a couple times. "I'll have you know I have a cousin who had to go to a boot camp in the Machinima district to lose 300 pounds off her...You don't need to assume we don't have people with weight problems. You can get fat off anything...Which is why I don't eat much."

Crow paused. "I...I didn't mean to offend you, Scarlette."

Scarlette smiled. "I was only making a statement. I never said you offended me."

"Oh...Throwing my own words back at me, huh?" Crow laughed, patting Scarlette's back. "What a smart little mouth. Now go try some toast. I have to get to work."  
He grabbed his yellow jacket and was off.

"You like him, don't you?" Yusei asked, taking Scarlettes attention away from the door.

"What do you mean?" Scarlette asked, putting a hand on the back of her neck.

"Come on, it's obvious." Yusei said, standing up and walking over to Scarlette, making her nervous at first. "You blush madly whenever he talks or touches you...You let him touch you, any of us put a finger on you and you jump back."

"I do not." Scarlette argued.

Yusei reached his arm towards Scarlettes shoulder and she turned it away to avoid his touch. Scarlettes silence signalled Yusei to continue. "I rest my case...Also, you talk to Crow the most..."

"And you look at him all the time." Bruno added; Yusei nodded towards him.

"So what, I look at somebody." Scarlette argued again.

"Scarlette..." Yusei said, taking Scarlette gently by the shoulders to avoid startling her. "It's okay...He likes you too."

Scarlette backed away, breaking free of Yusei.  
"No. No. No. No. No. No. No." She started to weep, holding her head and shaking uncontrollably. "I can't. I can't. I don't. No!"  
Scarlette ran past Yusei and Bruno and climbed the ladder, making her way back to Crows room. She closed the door and opened the window, climbing on to the roof and weeping. "I'm...I'm in love...I'm in love with a Surface-Dweller..."  
She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her forehead on them.

She cried for a few minutes as quietly as she could before hoisting her head slightly enough to see Yusei and Bruno leave with Jack. She wasn't sure where they were going, but she was okay, Scarlette thought a little while by herself would be good. She slid down the roof and let herself fall off the edge to catch the windowsill to Crows room. She climbed up and paced around the room and attic hallways for a while.  
She wandered around the living quarters more and watched people walk and drive by from the windows. Over thrity minutes later, Scarlette climbed back up to Crows bedroom and layed down on the width side of the bed and let herself drift into a nap. It took a few minutes, but she managed to let sleep overtake her dispite the time of day.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The role of the Lower Berths leader was taken by Daimler, and soon Jarrod and his first priority was to find Scarlette and bring her back to be married. Bounty Hunters of all genders, elements and calibers were dispatched to scout the surface for her, some even went overseas.  
Melanie was a Machinima bounty hunter, twenty years of age with curly copper hair that reached her shoulders when it wasn't tied back and yellow eyes. She wore a green short dress with a visible crinoline and black boots that reached her knees. Her companion was a Berth Hound named Manifesto.  
Berth Hounds were large dog-like creatures that were bred to serve beside the bounty hunters and law enforcement of the districts. All of them had thin fur that was a shade of grey or black, round faces and collars that were color coded with the district they served under.  
White for Death, Yellow for Machinima, Purple for Magic, Orange for Fire, Blue for Water, Brown for Earth, Light Silver for Wind.

Melanie held Manifestos chain as he barked with anger, expressing his masters burning desire for never-ending bloodshed. She silenced him once Jarrod approached inside the lobby of the Governmental Hall.  
"Judge Noire." Melanie bowed her head as Manifestos barking silenced into a quiet whine. "I've tracked her to the town just northwest of the forest. New Domino City, it's called."

"Well done, Melanie." Jarrod said.

"Thank you, your honor." Melanie replied. "Manifesto is one of best trackers in the Machinima District."

"Excellent." Jarrod exclaimed. "Then he will lead the pack."

"Pack? Your honor?" Melanie tilted her head.

"We cannot be seen on the surface, so Daimler is ordering a Hound dispatch on Scarlettes location." Jarrod clarified. "The Hounds will guide her back and rip apart any surface-dweller that gets in their way."

...

Scarlette awoke from her nap near the end of the day and walked around the quiet and still empty house. Nobody was back yet. She went down to the kitchen and found a plate of dark colored bread, with it there was a note:  
_**Scarlette.  
This is Banana Bread. Help yourself. It's good.  
Bruno and Yusei. **_

She took a small piece from the loaf and tore a small piece off. She looked at it and smelled it for a while before putting it in her mouth.  
"This is good." Scarlette said before nibbling at the rest of the piece and having a few more small pieces.  
Soon the door opened and Crow parked his Duel Runner. Scarlette waved from above. She thought about talking with him about what Yusei said while they were alone, but chose to keep her emotions to herself.

"Hi Scarlette." Crow said with a smile. "I'm happy to see you eating...Is that banana bread?"

"That's what Yusei and Brunos note says it is." Scarlette replied.

Crow quickly walked up the stairs and took a big piece from the loaf.  
"Are you here by yourself?" He asked before taking a large bite.

"Everyone went somewhere and I stayed behind, so yes." Scarlette answered.

Crow swallowed.  
"Why didn't you go too? I'm more than sure Yusei or Bruno would have given you a ride."

"I...I'm afraid...You remember what happened last time I stepped out of that door." Scarlette said.

Crow paused. "You can't live in fear of the outside world, Scarlette. I'm sure you didn't risk everything to come up here to just to hide in here for the whole time. Don't let one turn of events break your spirits."

Scarlette looked at the floor and sighed. "I...I just...There's also..."

"Say no more." Crow stopped her. "You don't have to worry about anything, Scarlette. Bruno, Yusei, and Jack after a while...and me...We won't let anything happen to you." He approached Scarlette, cupped her face in his hands and looked her directly in the eyes. "We promise...I promise you. As long as you're with any of us...Nothing bad will happen to you."

Scarlette froze, lost in the silver blue color of Crows eyes. She'd never seen them up close; they were beautiful. She closed her eyes for a few moments before letting the green of her own eyes meet the light blue again.  
"I trust you, Crow." She breathed.

...

At nightfall, Yusei, Bruno and Jack had gone to sleep early after their errands. Scarlette was cleaning the kitchen table when Crow came down the ladder.  
"Follow me Scarlette. I wanna show you something." He said, taking her by the arm and leading her down the stairs to his Duel Runner.

Scarlette watched in interest as Crow dug in a compartment and produced a black and red helmet with a green tinted visor. "It's beautiful." She said.

"I'm glad you like it." Crow stated, holding it to her. "It's yours."

Scarlette looked at it, shocked when Crow placed it in her hands. "But I don't have a-"

"Yeah, you don't have one yet." Crow cut in. "This is for you for when you ride with me."

"With you?" Scarlette repeated. "But-"

"I know, you're afraid...But that's what I wanna show you." Crow said, mounting his bike. "I wanna show you that there's nothing to be afraid of."

"Crow..."

"You'll love the city at night." Crow argued, putting his own helmet on and patting the seat behind him. "Come on."

"No...I-I can't."

"I said it before and I'll say it again...I won't take no for an answer." Crow patted the seat again. "You trust me...Right?" He held his hand to her. "I promise you won't regret it."

Scarlette paused before cracking a small smile, putting the helmet over her head and climbing onto the bike behind Crow and hanging on to the sides of his vest, like she did with Yuseis jacket.  
"Okay. Let's go see the city."

Crow started the engine before looking back at Scarlette. "Hang on."

"I am." Scarlette replied.

Crow chuckled. "No you're not...Hold on to me...Not my vest."

Scarlette blushed.  
"Oh...You mean...Put my arms around you?"

"Yeah." Crow answered. "I don't bite."  
He had to coax her a little more, but Scarlette put her arms around Crow and her entire face burned.

...

Crow drove Scarlette around the streets of New Domino City. Traffic was minimal due to the hour and with the lack of people around, Scarlette felt more secure and didn't keep her face in Crows back so much.  
She was mesmerized by the lights of the city systematically turning her gaze to the opposite side and unwarily cuddling Crow and sighing. Feeling Scarlettes arms wrap around him more tightly, but gently, Crow was the one to blush this time. He picked up speed a bit, taking Scarlette out of the city via the highway and stopped the bike at the bottom of a hill at the outskirts of the city.  
Crow removed his helmet and Scarlette did the same.  
"Okay Scarlette." He said, dismounting the bike. "What do you think? Are you glad I made you come, or are you glad?"

Scarlette hopped off the bike and stood right beside him. "It's amazing. I'm so glad you made me come." She was smiling in pure delight.

"You haven't seen anything yet." Crow replied, putting his helmet down on the seat of his bike before taking Scarlettes and putting it down for her. "I'll guide you up the hill." He continued, covering Scarlettes eyes.

"Crow..." Scarlette laughed. "This is silly. I could just keep my eyes closed."

"No. I can't risk you peeking." Crow replied, walking her up the hill, stopping after a number of steps. "Okay, Scarlette. If you liked the city lights down in the streets...You'll love this." He then moved his hands and showed Scarlette that from the hill they stood on, they could see the entire city. "It's the best view of the city right here."

Scarlette was speechless and breathless at the same time. She put her hand over her heart and gazed out at the multicolored glow of New Domino City.  
"Oh Crow..." She felt weak in the knees and collapsed to a sitting position. "It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

Crow sat down beside her.  
"Yeah. This world is full of scary things up here...But if you brave the scary, dark, threatening things, you'll find something in this world that turns out to be beautiful." He never took his gaze off Scarlettes eyes as they shined in the lunar light. "I know this for a fact, Scarlette."

Scarlette turned to Crow and their eyes met again.  
"Crow...Thank you so much for making me come out here." She started to rest her head on his shoulder, but immediately pulled away and brushed her hair behind her ear awkwardly.

Crow laughed and pulled her close. She then rested her head on his shoulder and he nestled her warmly, taking in the sweet scent that came from her hair.  
"You're welcome, Scarlette." He sighed. "I'm more than happy to bring you out here."

The two watched the city lights in peace and bliss, unaware of the shadow in the brushes to the right of the hill; a shadow that was cast by the growling Berth Hound that had tracked them.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Scarlette more or less had to push Crow off the mattress on the floor to force him to sleep in his bed that night, but she still awoke the next morning moved again. She shook her head and got up for the day. Her heart was still beating in a peculiar way after the night her and Crow shared together, she wondered why. She paced around the room after putting her boots on.  
"Come on, Scarlette...Get a hold of yourself...You're in love with Crow...and Crow is a Surface-Dweller...You know how much trouble you can get both you and him into."

Just then, Jack threw the door open.  
"A little something you'd like to share with the class, Scarlette?"

Scarlette jumped back a foot and felt her heart beating through her ribcage.  
"Jack?! You scared me!"

"You sure have a knack for being unreasonably jumpy." Jack stated.

"And you sure have a knack for scaring me half to death." Scarlette replied.

Jack walked up to Scarlette and she took a step back for every step he took towards her until he had to pressing herself against the wall.  
"Are you done?" He asked. "For the last time, I'm not going to hurt you."

Scarlette relaxed.  
"Can you please back up a little..."

"You let Crow near you." Jack said, taking a couple steps back. "What is it about him, Yusei and Bruno that you like so much?"

"They didn't try and kill me." Scarlette answered.

"You just cannot let that go, can you?" Jack sighed.

"Would you be able to?!"

Crow then opened the door.  
"Jack, leave Scarlette alone! Just walk in and tell her that Carly is here and wants to meet her. It's just that simple."

"Who's Carly?" Scarlette asked.

"A friend I vented to a few days ago and she has been just dying to meet you." Jack answered.

Scarlette brushed her fingers through her hair and checked her makeup in the nearest mirror.  
"Just let me touch up a little." She said. "I'll be right down."

"It's only Carly..." Jack said through clenched teeth. "It's not like-"

Crow rammed an elbow into Jacks ribs.  
"Knock it off!"

Jack and Crow headed downstairs where Yusei, Bruno, Akiza, Carly and the twins were.  
"Well, she's awake." Jack said. "Muttering to herself like a divvy, but awake."

After a few minutes, Scarlette came downstairs and Carly jumped as gasped.  
"Oh boy...here we go." Scarlette sighed. "Go ahead...Get all the screams out of your system..."

"Leo was right...She is so cool!" Carly stated.

Scarlette smiled.  
"Cool? Really?"

"See, what did I tell you?" Crow said. "Not everyone here wants to dead or gone."

Carly stomped her foot and had a miniature spasm.  
"I wish that selling Cocaine wasn't more illegal than keeping you up here. You would make a great article!" She then shook her head. "Oh, where are my manners? Carly Carmine." The two shook hands and smiled.

"Scarlette Noire." Scarlette replied. She was happy to have another friend.

...

Later on in the day, Yusei, Bruno, Jack and Crow went to work in the garage and Scarlette was answering questions from Carly, Akiza and the twins in the living room.  
"-And that's how our Goddess got her form and how her five servants aid her through us."

Carly was taking notes.  
"Wow. They don't say it in nearly that much detail in the restricted section in the library. This is awesome, Scarlette."

"So, do you guys have any kinds of pets down there?" Luna asked.

"Of course." Scarlette answered. "We have certain types of horses, cats and even dogs. But our dogs are trained as attack weapons and they're called Berth Hounds."

"Do they by any chance look like big, big, big dogs? Like Jack sized?" Carly asked.

"I'd say so...How do you know?" Scarlette asked.

Carly pointed at the stairs and at the top stood a large silver Berth Hound in a Purple collar.  
"That's...wow..."

The Berth Hound skulked over to Scarlette and sniffed her. Leo went to pet its back, but backed off once it growled loudly at him.  
"No. Don't touch it." Scarlette warned quietly. "And be quiet...No sudden moves to upset it." As the dog kept nuzzling her and making short, whimpering noises, Scarlette scratched behind its ears. "Yes. Hello. Hello. You're from the Magic District. What's your name?" She read the name tag. "Silver...How appropriate."  
Just then, the Berth Hound grabbed Scarlette by the sleeve and started to tug on her, making her stand, and then leading her down the stairs. "Hey. Let go."

"Scarlette what's happening?" Akiza asked, following. She got to the top of the stairs, but the Berth Hound spun around and barked at her like it was suddenly rabid. Akiza froze.

"Back off Akiza! Back off!" Scarlette yelled in a panic.  
Akiza obeyed and backed away until the barking ceased.

The Berth Hound then continued to pull Scarlette towards the open door by the sleeve when Jack rounded the corner from the garage.  
"What the hell? Is there a dog in here?" His question was answered when the Berth Hound started barking at him the same way it did at Akiza. "Scarlette what the hell is that thing?" Jack asked, walking more, thus making the Hound bark more violently and bare its teeth more.

"JACK! STOP! DON'T MOVE!" Scarlette, Akiza, Carly and the Twins yelled simultaneously.

"What the hell is wrong with you? It's just a greyhound!" Jack argued.

"Jack! Back off!" Scarlette had to almost scream to be heard over the barking.

"Shut this thing up!" Jack yelled, taking a step towards Scarlette.

"JACK! NO!" Scarlette shrieked.

The Berth Hound bolted forwards towards Jack. When Carly said it was 'Jack sized' she was right, when it jumped on Jack, it was tall enough to put its paws over Jacks shoulders and force him to the floor while on only its hind legs; little jumping was necessary.  
Everyone froze in horror, including Scarlette when the Hound tore and ripped at the shoulder of Jacks jacket. Jack's declarations made it clear that he was not in pain.  
"What is the meaning of this? Get this brute off of me!" He yelled.

Scarlette bolted towards the Hound.  
"Jack! Don't let it bite your skin!" She yelled. "Blood causes them to frenzy!"  
She then shoved her forearm into the Hounds mouth, making it bite her skin and draw a huge amount of blood. She also hit the Hound over the head to get it off Jack. "Come on! Attack me! Attack me!"  
Her plan worked, the Hound released the unharmed Jack and turned on Scarlette, forcing her to the floor and pinning her down. Scarlette yelped in pain as the creature tore and ripped at her forearm, producing more blood. The blood made the snarling monster more violent.

"Jack!" Carly screamed. "Do something!"  
Jack didn't respond. He just spun around and ran back out to the garage.

"You coward!" Akiza yelled. She dashed down the stairs to go to Scarlettes aid and Carly told the twins to stay up where it was safe and followed.

The two girls tried to draw the Hound away from Scarlette by yelling at it and moving a lot.  
"Hey! Over here!"  
"Here poochie, poochie!"  
"Leave her alone!"  
But it was no use; the Hound was in a powerful blood frenzy. Its only ambition was to kill it's pray, completely forgetting Scarlette was on its side. Scarlette kept her arm up and despite the horrid pain, kept it up for the Hound to chew and rip at, keeping it away from its primary target; her throat.

Little did the girls know, they were mad at Jack for no reason. He wasn't running to the garage to flee, he was running to grab a pipe by his duel runner. It was a large, hard pipe that was recently purchased to replace an old pipe that was rusting.  
Yusei, Bruno and Crow saw Jacks damaged jacket and look of pure panic on his face, a look Jack didn't usually have. He grabbed the pipe and swung it at the air a couple times before yelling "Perfect!" and dashing back out.

"Jack! What's going on? What's happening? What's wrong?" Yusei yelled.  
When Jack didn't answer, he Bruno and Crow quickly followed him back to the house to see Scarlette being attacked by the Hound.

"What is that thing?!" Bruno yelled.

"Whatever it is..." Crow replied. "That thing is pissed!"

Jack ran up with the pipe and swung at the Hound, hitting it in the under belly. "GET OFF HER!"  
The Hound flinched before turning its attention to Jack and snarling with bloody teeth showing off. "Yeah...You remember me, don't you?" Jack spoke to it, backing up to a good distance. "Come on! Finish what you started!"  
As if the Hound could understand what Jack said, it turned on him and dashed across the living space to him.

"This is scary!" Luna yelled, not wanting to watch.

Once the Hound was off Scarlette, Crow, Carly, Akiza and Yusei rushed to her aid, Bruno rushed to the twins. Jack held the pipe like a golf club and swung as hard he could as the Hound made its final pound. The pipe made contact and broke against the side of the creatures skull, sending it rolling over and fleeing. The loud yelping sounds from the Hound got quieter and quieter as it made more distance.  
Jack dropped the damaged pipe and ran to Scarlette, who seemed to have lost consciousness.

"She's bleeding bad, Jack." Crow said, he and Yusei were applying paper towels to her arms.

"There are no more paper towels!" Akiza cried as Carly brought the last roll.

"Save them!" Jack yelled, removing his jacket. He took Scarlette in his arms and wrapped her bleeding forearm in the jacket, applying pressure. He looked down at her pale face. She looked like a painted doll. "You saved my life..." He spoke, tears forming in his eyes.

"We need to get her to a hospital!" Carly exclaimed.

"No! We can't bring her to the hospital anywhere." Crow said. "They'll euthanize her!"

"Crow's right." Yusei responded. "We'll have to take her to Martha. She's the only one we can trust right now."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

A magic elemental wept in her hands as her Berth Hound, her beloved Silver, was executed for his failure.  
"Forgive me, Mayra." Contessa said, placing a hand on the shoulder of the weeping woman.

"He was like a child to me!"

"You know the rules..." Contessa interrupted. "His genes cannot be passed on to pups. He is a failure."  
She went back to the body of the animal and dug the large knife out of its throat and returning it to her possession.

After the event, Contessa returned to her home in the Death district.  
She was a tall, pale skinned woman who dressed in a shimmering pleather jumpsuit that was unzipped to the navel, unveiling her red, white and grey colored bustier on full display.  
She was tall and slim, had long blonde hair with navy tips and her mark ran to her mid-shoulders notch. Contessa was the Lower Berths head executioner and she adored her job more than life itself. She would rather spend the day ripping criminals organs out of his or her body than with her own children.

While Contessa sipped her tea happily, content in her musky, candle-lit loft until suddenly there was a knock at her door. Daemia then stepped through the door.  
"Hello sister." She spoke.

Contessa smirked. "You bring me news?"

"Indeed, I do." Daemia answered.

"The young Noire, I presume." Contessa grimaced her black painted lips.

"Yes...Finding her is the good judges very first priority, big sister." Daemia sighed with sadness. "He had his wife killed to be with me, and now because of the arrogance of his youngest daughters, he's too distracted to make love to me."

"You deserve as such." Contessa huffed, pouring a cup of tea for her sister. "The infidelity you caused that tore the Noire family apart all those years ago and the secrets you generated...It's despicable."

"Sister...You don't understand. The love I have for Judge Noire and the love I feel for my daughter, whom I can never love or-"

"I refuse to understand because I did not steal the husband of another!" Contessa shouted, making her sister jolt. "You are a temptress! A whore! You disgust me and you bring distain to the Gillesphery name, Daemia!"

"Sister! Please! Be not so disquiet!" Daemia pleaded. She knew Contessa had a volatile temperament, the best thing to do was not to shout back at her, but to quietly reply to her. "What say you about the failure of the Berth Hound?"

"I say little." Contessa replied, calm and cool once more. "Very little."

"Why-"

"Because I'm not the Judges whore!" Contessa shouted. "Therefore, I do not know!"

"Sister! Sister! Please be calm." Daemia pleaded again.

Contessa took a breath in and exhaled. "Tell me the news."

"Scarlette has been tracked...and Judge Jarrod is sending a bounty hunter after her on the fifth day from this...He is sending Alois."

Contessa dropped her teacup, shattering it against the cobblestone floor.

...

Scarlette woke up to a cool breeze and the sound of children laughing. She sat up slowly due to the pain in her forearm, which was wrapped in bandages. Judging by her surroundings, Scarlette assumed she was in a hospital.  
A door opened to the right and Scarlette shifted away from the doors direction, gasping in shock at the site of an unfamiliar face. A middle-aged Hispanic woman stood in the door way and Scarlette instinctively tried to flee, only to fall to the floor due to her weak legs.  
"It's alright, Scarlette." She heard. "You're safe now. I'm Martha."

Scarlette stayed quiet as she stood up, using the bed as a support. She thought she should have been wondering where she was more than she was wondering why Martha was dressed like a Berth Nurse. She very clearly was not from the Lower Berth.  
"Where am I?" Scarlette finally asked, sitting on the bed to give her aching legs a longer rest.

"This is a safe haven, sweetheart." Martha replied, crossing the room. "You don't need to worry about anything."

"I don't remember much." Scarlette said, standing again and staggering around the bed. "How long was I out for?"

"More or less, you just slept through the night. Some boys I know brought you here last night after some sort of attack."

Scarlette's memory snapped back to the Berth Hound attack she'd endured to save Jack.  
"Yusei, Jack and Crow? Bruno?"

"That's them." Martha replied, pouring water from a pitcher into a small glass.

"How are they? Is Jack okay?" Scarlette asked, taking three staggering steps away from Martha as she got too close for Scarlettes comfort.

"They're all fine...Physically at least."

"What do you mean?"

"I've never seen those boys in such a panic as I saw last night." Martha replied, giving Scarlette the water. "Drink this. You lost a lot of blood. It's alright, it's only water."

Scarlette accepted the water. "Thank you." She instinctively sniffed the brim of the glass before sipping the water.

"You needn't worry." Martha reassured. "I won't poison you, I won't burn you, I won't do anything whatsoever to harm you. You're clearly far too important to those boys. Crow especially."

Scarlette choked on the water in her throat.  
"Why do you say that?" She asked nervously before coughing.

Martha paused, watching Scarlettes cheeks turn so red that they could have blended in with her hair.  
"He cares about you a lot."

"They...all seem to." Scarlette replied.

"No...That's not what I mean, sweetheart." Martha said. "Crow was the one kicking my door down at midnight, while carrying you in his arms. Crow wanted to stay here with you to make sure you wouldn't be scared. That boy cares for you, Scarlette."

Scarlette started to weep.  
"I never wanted this. I never expected to even have friends. Associating with surface dwellers will be bad enough if I get caught up here...but...Me and Crow? No...I'll...He'll...We'll both be killed most likely!"

"I'm aware of your customs and laws, Scarlette." Martha said, patting Scarlettes shoulder, making her jolt. "Which raises the question of why you came up here in the first place?"  
Scarlette remained silent and looked down at the water.

...

Claire, beside herself with worry about how Alois would treat Scarlette, took it upon herself to find her sister; both if possible.  
She rose herself to the surface, spawning via an abandoned factory in the Satellite sector. With a hood of her worn sheet of a cloak up over her head, she ventured out into the streets. Some commotion attracted her attention, a surface dweller being attacked by three larger surface dwellers. Claires naturalistic distain for the surface and all its inhabitants told her to keep walking, but this young surface dweller being defiled reminded her of Scarlette. She didn't know why or how, but her better side told her to help him.

"Somebody, please help me!" Cyan called from the stomping feet of his attackers.

"We said give us all your money!" One of the attackers shouted.

"I told you! I don't have anything!" Cyan cried. "I don't even know where I am!"

Claire stepped into site.  
"Okay. Break it up." She ordered, firmly.

The three attackers saw her as nothing more than a normal young woman, an easy target.  
"Well look at this." The first said as all three abandoned their attention on Cyan to advance on her.

"Hey baby." The second said, the three circling Claire, who remained calm and cool. "Nice body you got there."

"Mind if we take a better look at it?" The third tried to touch her shoulder, but the second Claire felt contact, she seized the unclean young man by the arm and twisted it, sending him to the ground. Her cloak came back, revealing her marks and skin. The two other men gasped in horror at her.

Claire became enraged for unknown reasons to her.  
"You want a reason to fear me?!" She shouted at them. "Here it is!"  
She was still holding the twisted arm of the third boy, she twisted the arm until a loud snap echoed in the alleyway. They boy screamed in pain and anguish, his arm had broken. But Claire didn't stop there, she twisted the arm more and more until she pulled up hard while stepping down on the boys chest, ripping the limb clean off, killing the boy from shock.

The other two fled, screaming for help and Claire knew she had to flee. But something stopped her again, the half naked, weeping boy at her feet yet a few meters away.  
"Please...Don't kill me...Leave me alone to die on my own terms." Cyan pleaded.

Claire saw that the boy was just clinging onto consciousness. She lifted him up as he passed out and brought him into the best hiding spot she could find, an abandoned and condemned apartment complex just in the outskirts of the sector.  
"It's alright." Claire said, placing the boy down on the floor and putting her cloak over him like a blanket. "I'll take care of you...I always wanted a pet."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Claire sat on the large window sill located in what used to be the lofts kitchen and looked down at the empty, dusty street below. Rustling and the loud sleep-sigh that Cyan made caused her to look towards him, laying there on the opposite side of the loft. She shook her head, wondering what was stopping her from leaving him there.

"Stupid big sister upbringing..." She groaned under her breath.

...

Scarlette was in the yard of Martha's residence. She was just breathing in the fresh evening air and enjoying the peace until she felt cold. Very cold, as if the temperature outside had dropped profusely in those few moments.  
"Hello Scarlette." A voice rang in her ears, a voice that she hoped to never hear again. Wes. "I've been looking all over for you, you know." He was slowly walking towards her, as if he was on nothing but a leisurely stroll.

Scarlette stumbled back in fear. Her mind screamed at her to run.  
"You..." She pointed a shaky hand at him. "Stay away from me!"

"Oh, Scarlette." Wes purred in a mock sad tone. "Is that anyway to speak to your future husband?"

"You are not my future husband!" Scarlette shook. "You never will be! Never! I'll never love you! Do you hear me?! NEVER EVER, EVER!"

"Who says you have to love me to marry me?" Wes asked in a cold tone. "Love me or hate me, Scarlette Noire...You will be mine."

Suddenly, Scarlettes vision went black and her heart started to beat erratically. Was it a spell Wes cast on her? Some sort of Death charm?  
"Wake up." A small voice echoed in her ear.

"Wake up, Scarlette." Another said.

"Scarlette? Wake up. Scarlette." A third whispered.

Scarlette felt some very small sets of hands shaking her. She opened her eyes and inhaled, seeing the orphans that lived at Martha's all around her bed.  
"What..." Scarlette couldn't finish. Her heart was pounding too hard.

"Were you having a bad dream?" One of the little girls asked.

Scarlette inhaled and exhaled a few more times.  
"It was...It was only a dream." She sighed. "Oh...thank goodness..." She fell back and let the back of her head hit the pillow, letting out another exhale of relief. Wes had not found her. If he had, all those children would be in danger, and Scarlette had grown to love them.  
In the night and day Scarlette had spent there, Martha advised that Scarlette stay in bed until someone came to bring her back to where she was staying, causing the worst case of boredom Scarlette had ever endured. During that time however, the orphans would come in when she was awake and talk to her, ask her questions and even bring her food.

"We were sent up here by Martha." One of the little boys told her. "Crow, Yusei and Jack are here to bring you back to their place."

"Oh, thank you." Scarlette said, sitting up and looking for her boots. The smallest of the girls brought her boots to her before asking her if Scarlette would come over and play once she felt better. "I'd love to." Scarlette replied. "I'm very good at hide and seek."  
Scarlette smiled as all the orphans piled out of the room, giggling, but one little girl stayed.

"Do you like Crow?" She asked Scarlette.

Scarlette felt her cheeks warming again. She felt the need to be honest with the child.  
"I do...I really do."

"Are you going to marry him?" The little girl asked.

"No. I can't." Scarlette answered. "I'd get into trouble and so would Crow...Big trouble."

"That's sad." The little girl replied before walking out of the room to join her friends. "You're fun and you look like you could make Crow very happy."

...

Meanwhile outside, Crow paced back and forth, deep in thought while Yusei and Jack talked about their completely different opinions on the situation they knew he was in.  
"You know the laws, Yusei." Jack said. "Crow and Scarlette could be killed...Not that I care what happens to Scarlette."

"It's a stupid law that's almost a thousand years old, Jack." Yusei replied. "Crow likes Scarlette and Scarlette likes Crow...Why not give them a chance to be happy?"

"Because Scarlette, like it or not, is a monster!"

"That monster saved your life, Jack!" Yusei shouted, causing Jack to bite his lip. "When you cradled her and wrapped your jacket around her arm, you saw how ripped to shreds with was. We could almost see her bones, Jack! And her arm...could have been your neck!"

Jack looked away from Yusei.  
"I reject that statement."

Yusei shook his head and walked off to talk to Crow, Jack followed not far behind.  
"You okay, Crow?" Yusei asked.

Crow blinked.  
"Yeah, I'm fine...Just thinking."

Yusei paused, ignoring Jacks glares.  
"Crow..." He put his hand on Crows shoulder. "We all see the way you look at her."

"He's clearly looking at the walls behind her, Yusei." Jack interrupted. "Those walls sure are beautiful."

Crow and Yusei gave Jack the same look.  
"Jack, you're being a child." Yusei said. (1)

Jack shook his head and walked towards his duel runner.  
"Just go get her so we can go home and continue our new lives of being fugitive harbourers." He then turned back towards them and shouted. "Honestly, we should just send her back to where she came from before something really bad happens!"

Yusei and Crow shook their heads and turned towards the doorway only to see Scarlette on the front step.  
The two froze, looking at the hurt expression on Scarlettes face, tears forming in her eyes. It wasn't long before she spun around and ran passed Martha to get back inside, sobbing loudly.

"Jack!" Martha shouted. "You should be ashamed of yourself!"

After a short pause, Jack repeated his words from before.  
"I reject that statement."

Crow and Yusei went after Scarlette. Yusei stopped in the hallway, letting Crow go on. As Crow went on by himself, he paused to listen for Scarlette. One thing about Scarlette that he had learned was that when Scarlette cried, she cried loudly. Crow followed the weeping to the infirmary, where Scarlette had been sleeping. He opened the door and closed it quietly behind him.

"Scarlette..." Crow spoke. "Jack can be a-"

"He's right." Scarlette sobbed, cutting him off. "I'm a monster. I don't belong here and I never did." She stood to her feet. "I should just go home and accept the consequences of my actions."

"Isn't that death?" Crow asked nervously.

"Nobody up here would care I was gone." Scarlette wept, her eyes were getting sore from the profuse tears.

"That's not true, Scarlette." Crow said, walking up to her and coaxing her to sit down with him. "Listen...Jack can be a jerk sometimes. It's in his nature." He continued over her weeping. "Please, Scarlette...Don't cry." He quickly walked across the room to get Scarlette some tissues.

She took them and sniffed one more time.  
"Thank you." She blew her nose loudly, causing Crow to flare his nostrils and recoil.  
Scarlette apologized and told him to continue.

"There's no need to apologize, Scarlette." He said, putting a hand on her lap. "As I was saying, Jack is just too full of himself to admit that he's grateful for what you did. He doesn't mean anything he said out there and he doesn't mean it for treating you so badly. He really does like you, we all do and we want to keep you around, Scarlette. Regardless of the consequences." He paused waiting for Scarlettes reply that didn't come. "Please, Scarlette." He said, taking her hand. "Stay with us...Stay with me."

Scarlette immediately took her hand away.  
"Crow...You've got to be the nicest guy I've ever met...but...you and me...it cannot happen. Ever."

"Why not?" Crow asked, standing up. "You like me, don't you?"

"I do...I actually think I might-"

"And I think I might love you too." Crow interrupted.

"That word...scares me, Crow." Scarlette said, bringing her knees to her chest.

Crow paused.  
"You've been hurt in the past, haven't you?"  
Scarlette shook her head and started to tear up again. Crow put his hands up, folding. "Okay, I'm sorry...I remember the story about your scary wannabe husband...I didn't mean to bring it up."

"It's not that, Crow." Scarlette replied. "You and me...We will be punished for it if we're caught."

"That's why I'll swear everyone to secrecy." Crow replied, sitting beside her again.

"Crow...You can't make sure everyone stays silent..." Scarlette said. "Especially Jack...I don't trust him."

"You leave Jack to me, Scarlette." Crow said. Scarlette remained silent again. "It'll be okay, Scarlette." He reassured her. "Stay with us and we'll keep you safe."

"Crow..." Scarlette said, closing her eyes in dismay. She didn't want to look at him. "I'm sorry...I can't-"  
Scarlettes words were stopped by Crow as he cupped Scarlettes face in his hands and pressed his lips against hers. She froze, not really relaxing into the kiss until Crow pulled himself away and apologized.

Scarlette kept opening her mouth to reply, but no words came out. She then started to giggle and her giggle turned into a laugh, a laugh that Crow soon joined her in. She wrapped her arms around him.  
"Thank you, Crow. I will stay. I trust that you'll keep me safe."

...

**Author's note:  
(1)-"Would a child do this? La-la-la-la-la-la. I am not listening to you. La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la."  
~5Ds Abridged. **


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Where to go now? Cyan ventured down into the streets outside the building he woke up in. Looking back at the old, ruined apartments, Cyan got ready to dash down the abandoned street before a thud from behind him startled him.  
"Where are you off too?" Claire asked. She'd jumped down from above somewhere.

Cyan didn't answer at first, he was busy trying to pin-point her possible jump-off areas and figure out how she managed it.  
"You...are not normal..." Cyan said to her, pointing a shaky finger and backing away slowly.

Claire blinked.  
"Please don't tell me you just found out I was a Nether-Dweller..."

Cyan shook.  
"I just...I didn't have a good look at you until now..."

"Are you afraid?" Claire asked. Cyan didn't answer.  
"You don't have to be." She continued. "I'm just looking for my sister. We tracked her to this city."

"Scarlette Noire?" Cyan blurted. "Is...Is she kind of small and timid? Long, red hair? Green eyes?"

Claire's back length ponytail blew over her shoulder in the wind as she jolted back towards Cyan's direction.  
"You know her? You've seen her?"

Cyan then remembered the attack Claire rescued him from.  
"You...You tore that guys arm clean off..."

"Where is my sister?" Claire demanded to know.

Cyan jumped back.  
"Ummm...I don't know where she is in particular...But I remember some guys she was with..."

"Spit it out!" Claire yelled.

"Uhhh...There was three of them." Cyan said, remembering. "One was tall and had blue hair...one had hair that looked like antlers and the other was about as tall as Scarlette and he had red hair that looked kind of weird...like a broom or something..."

Claire was about to speak, but a deep, raspy male voice spoke before she got a chance to speak.  
"Thank you. Now I know what to look for." A tall, young-middle aged Nether man laughed coldly. His purple eyes showed that he was a Magic elemental. White blonde hair was cut short and he wore a leather trench coat over black pants, boots and a white dress shirt.

Claire readied two large pistols. Cyan jumped back behind her, wondering where the huge six-guns came from.  
"Alois." (1) Claire snarled at him. "You leave Scarlette alone. I'm going to find her."

"I'm sorry, Claire." Alois replied. "It's not your assignment to bring her back. Mine is...At all cost."

Alois gave Claire a cold smile, which enraged her. Claire opened fire on Alois; sending a barrage of large, golden bullets towards him. Cyan doubled over behind her and plugged his ears, cursing.  
Alois raised a hand in front of himself and blocked the bullets with an invisible walls that melted them into a golden dust. He then uttered an incantation that burned the Nether magic symbol, a star and semi-circle, around him in the dirt. A flash of white light blinded both Claire and Cyan until they looked away. They opened their eyes again to see Alois gone.

Claire cursed under her breath.

...

Scarlette's stomach twitched, causing her to whine in her sleep before she shot upwards and gasped loudly. Crow shot up as well from the mattress on the floor.  
"You okay Scarlette?"

Scarlette's expression painted a picture of true horror.  
"They found me." She said before a huge crash was heard from down stairs.

Crow told Scarlette to wait, but she refused. She ended up leading him outside to meet Jack and Yusei in the upper hall.  
"Did you guys hear that crash too?" Yusei whispered. "I think someone broke in."

"Who would break in?" Crow asked quietly.

"I would." Alois' raspy voice echoed loudly from behind the group.  
Yusei, Jack and Crow turned to see Alois holding struggling Scarlette in his arms, one hand clasped over her mouth.

"Let her go!" Yusei demanded.

"Don't get involved, you Cur." Alois replied through Scarlette's muffled exclamations.

"Anyone know what Cur means?" Crow asked.

"Who are you?" Jack asked Alois.

"My name is non of your concern." Alois responded while struggling to hold on to Scarlette, who struggled, squirmed and screamed _help me_ with her eyes. "I am merely here to bring this runaway home."

"She doesn't want to go back there." Crow stated. "She's staying here."

"Oh is she?" Alois laughed, as a purple aura clouded the room. "You're welcome to try and take her away from-" He couldn't finish his declaration. Scarlette raised her foot and stomped down on his with full force. Alois exclaimed in pain and let Scarlette go to grab his foot. "You little witch!"

Scarlette ran into Crow's waiting arms, instinctively taking shelter with whom she felt the most secure.  
"You can tell my father and Wesker that I'm not going back." She said boldly. "I like it here!"

Alois looked in between Scarlette and Crow with a look of sheer rage.  
"How could you do this to us, you little whore!" He shouted.

"Hey! Watch your mouth with a lady present!" Jack shouted back while pointing a threatening finger. Scarlette blinked. Jack of all people was defending her.

"Scarlette. They are Surface Dwellers. They're inferior." Alois said, ignoring Jack. "If you let that one claim you, if you haven't already, then you might has well be marrying an animal and thus committing bestiality. Come home and marry your future husband!"

"No they're not." Scarlette remembered something she'd heard Yusei tell Crow. She stepped forward, in between Alois and the three. "It's...It's been years. Why can't we all just try to be the way we were in the beginning, Alois?"

The tall, male Nether Dweller dashed magically fast up to Scarlette and slapped her across the face with enough force to send her to her knees.  
"Blasphemy!" Alois shrieked. "This world deserves to be where we were forced to be and by the Goddess I'll see it shrouded in her wrath! This entire Surface World will drown in a sea of decay and fire if you don't return to the Berth with me!" He continued, lifting Scarlette off the floor by her hair.

Yusei dashed forward and shoved Alois back, making him drop Scarlette.  
"Leave her alone!" He shouted.

Alois eyed Yusei and raised one hand. Yusei, Jack and Crow's bodies outlined with a purple glow and froze.  
"I'll see these ones the first to die..." He said, producing a large blade and raising it to Yusei.

Scarlette was behind Alois, sitting on her knees when she saw the bounty hunter about to cut Yusei in two.  
"NO!" She shrieked, outlining her own body in a green aura and raising both her hands.

Two green vines lashed out of the ceiling and wrapped around Alois' neck, suspending him above the floor. Frozen in horror, Scarlette watched as Alois twitched and choked as he hung there. Soon, he stopped moving and fell silent. Jack, Crow and Yusei could then move again.

"Did you make him stop the spell?" Crow asked. "How?"

Scarlette's own body twitched uncontrollably.  
"I...I...I killed him!" She screamed before vomiting on the floor.

The body of the once infamous Nether bounty hunter, Alois DeFlueanique was now motionless and his opened, shocked eyes were an opaque violet color. To Scarlette's terror, she'd accidently lynched him to death.

...

"I'm sorry!" Scarlette sobbed, wrapped in a blanket on the couch as Crow patted her back in an attempt to console her. "I didn't mean too! I'm so sorry, Alois! I'm sorry!"

Jack carried the body down the ladder and tossed him over the edge of the stairwell. A loud thud was then heard from below.  
"It's no big deal, Scarlette." He said.

"You were defending all of us." Yusei said. "We all heard him say how he was gonna kill us...and he came close to chopping me in half."

"This is bad!" Scarlette wept. "More bad than you can imagine!"

Bruno handed her a glass of water before Crow shook his head at him.  
"How did you sleep through that?!" (2)

Scarlette continued after taking a sip of water.  
"I killed a bounty hunter...Which means if I do go back home now...I'll be sent to the Mid Berth!"

"The Mid Berth? What's that?" Bruno asked.

"A horrible, horrible place." Scarlette answered. "Some call it the Sub Berth, it's a series of catacombs underneath the Lower Berth. A maze of rusted metal and noxious gas filled hallways. Nether folk convicted of things such as killing members of the diet...like me...are sent down there to live. If the horrors that live in those walls don't tear them apart, whoever is sent down there has been rumored to scratch their own eyes out so they don't have to see what dwells down there..."

"What lives down there?" Jack asked.

Scarlette shrugged, taking another sip of water. "I don't know...All I do know is...October 11th, 1952..."

...

**Author's notes:**

**(1)- Alois' name is pronounced "All-Loy" for those wondering. **

**(2)-I was almost done writing the final scene with Alois, then i realized Bruno wasn't there...**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Scarlette lay awake for hours. How was she expected to go back to sleep after what she'd done? She was even appalled at how well Crow was managing to sleep again.  
"Crow, how can you go back to sleep so easily?" She finally piped up, almost in tears again. "I murdered someone."

Crow opened his eyes and looked at Scarlette.  
"You didn't murder him, Scarlette. Like Yusei said...You were defending us. You stopped him from murdering us."

Scarlette brought her knees to her chest and tears rolled down her cheeks.  
"I only meant to choke him out, I swear...But the vines...Once they constricted him...I couldn't get them to level down or let go..."

Crow crawled up beside Scarlette on the bed and held her. "It'll be okay, Scarlette."

"No it won't be." Scarlette sobbed.

"Yes, it will be." Crow reassured her, stroking her hair. "Now let's just calm down. I already promised you'd be safe."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Crow." Jack thundered, in the doorway suddenly. "Scarlette shouldn't be fretting so much about the fact that she killed someone, what she should be concerned about is the fact that her kin know where she is and who she's with now."

"Jack...Stop it." Crow growled.

"No, Crow." Scarlette stated. "Jack's right...We could hide Alois' body anywhere around the city and all it'll take is a Death elemental to find him... Then they'll just send another hunter to find me...A more higher ranked hunter than Alois was."

Jack turned to leave, gazing back at Scarlette. "I still say you should just go home and accept your fate before you get us all killed." He stated with venom before slamming the door behind him. "If they really want you back that bad...Give them what they want!" Were his next, hurtful words from behind the door.

...

"Alois is dead." The Death Priestess said, putting the silver ruin in her hands down on the table.

Contessa burst into many tears and Jarrod became hoarse with rage.  
"Who did it?" Jarrod growled. "Who dares kill my Death Commander?!"

The Priestess paused, gazing at Jarrod with her white eyes from under her black hooded cloak. "Scarlette... I see vines wrapping around Alois... She hung him, aiding another... Whom, I do not know..."

"Scarlette?!" Jarrod and Contessa both repeated in fury and confusion.

Jarrod gazed at the stone tablet floor in deep thought.  
"Her powers have surfaced...This is earlier than expected."

"And she's fighting." Contessa added. "Could the Imitation Goddess want-"

"No! We are not to speak of the Imitation Goddess!" The Priestess cried. "And never of...that event..."

Scarlette is not in favor of the offense." Jarrod said, pausing again. "Daughter...What is up there in that goddess forsaken land worth protecting? You've betrayed us all."

"What are your orders, Judge Noire?" The Priestess asked.

"Despatch a new bounty hunter to bring Scarlette home within the next few days... Let her guard decrease." Jarrod asked. "Alois was threatening and mentally abusing, but this time...I want a hunter who shows no mercy... A hunter that will bring Scarlette back at all means... Even if said means including breaking our promise to elude the surface dwellers... A firm believer in 'an eye for an eye'... Contessa... Despatch the Duchess of Dismay herself...I want Claeo D'Herzene despatched by morrows day."

The Priestess winced.  
"With-with all due respect, Judge Noire...But isn't sending a Grade A bounty hunter on a retrieving mission risky? And Miss D'Herzene will cause maximum bloodshed and misery among the surface dwellers...Something the goddess wouldn't be pleased with...She said herself to-"

"To HELL with the Goddess!" Judge Noire shouted, causing the Priestess to cover her mouth in shock. "The Goddess we've chosen to worship is meek and unworthy of my attention..."

"Judge Noire...Do not speak ill of our Faceless Goddess, or endure her wrath."

Jarrod flew into a fit of rage.  
"You DARE question my word?!" He shrieked at the now cowering Priestess. "I'll see you living the rest of your days in the Mid Berth!"  
He turned and left with Contessa following, leaving the Priestess in tears.

"Are your orders still the same, Good Judge?" Contessa asked.

"Yes. I'll see your master avenged, Contessa...I give you my word. Scarlette will be punished for her crimes against the Berth."

...

Buildings burned, innocents shrieked in pain and horror and chaos broke loose from the fiery crevasses in the streets of the city. Scarlette knew that all this madness was her fault. A ring of flames prevented her from running away from the unknown Nether dweller that approached her. This Nether dweller was just as tall as Scarlette, or it would appear, since she hovered just above the ground in an aura of dark energy, her jet black hair floated in its own breeze and her eyes were nothing but dark orbs.  
When Scarlette was face-to-face with her, she felt like she was staring into oblivion.  
"Face your fate, Scarlette Noire, or everything you've come to love will suffer in a perpetual sea of my wrath!"

"Who are you?!" Scarlette demanded to know.

The incarnate of darkness said no words, but replied to Scarlette declaration by raising her arms and thus raising the flames that surrounded the city, burning everything and everyone Scarlette loved about the surface.  
Scarlette turned her head away from the site of Yusei, Bruno and Crow burning alive only to see Carly, Akiza and Jack suffering the same fate on her other side. She dropped to her knees and hit her head on the hot pavement and when she looked up, the unknown Nether dweller flashed in front of her face.  
"Come home!" She shouted in a scrambled voice before Scarlettes eyes shot open and she found herself in Crows room.

Scarlette panted and her chest hurt from the sobs that weren't coming out.  
What was that? She thought to herself, standing up and reaching for her boots. What did it mean? What's happening to me?

Her thoughts were soon interrupted by a gunshot and the sound of Jack, Yusei, Crow and Bruno screaming, most Jack.  
As Scarlette dashed down to the garage downstairs, she started to hear Jacks voice.  
"She shot me! She shot me!"  
And she stopped on the stairs to see Claire keeping Crow, Yusei and Bruno against the wall with one pistol and pushing the other against Jacks forehead.

"I saw you burying Alois' body!" Claire growled. "Now...I'll ask you one more time...Where is my sister!"

"Claire!" Scarlette exclaimed, running down the rest of the stairs and jumping into her sisters waiting arms, mostly pushing her away from Jack. "Stop it! They're my friends!"

"Friends?! Scarlette, you can't roll with Surface Dwellers!"

"Oh sure." Cyan said, walking through the front door. "Says you."

"I told you to stay outside." Claire growled at Cyan.

Scarlette blinked at Cyan.  
"You're...You're..."

"Excuse me, but..."Jack stated, from laying on the floor, supporting himself with his elbows. "BLEEDING TO BLOODY DEATH OVER HERE!" He shouted while he bled from his knee cap.

Scarlette slid on her knees to Jack side.  
"Claire. Why'd you shoot him?"

Claire shrugged and placed her guns in the holsters under her cloak.  
"He dared me."

"She is right, Jack." Crow stated. "You did dare her."

"SHUT UP!" Jack shrieked in pain. "WHOES SIDE ARE YOU ON!"

"Just calm down, Jack." Scarlette said softly, placing both her hands on the bleeding wound.

Jack screamed in pain on contact.  
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! DON'T TOUCH ME!"

Scarlette closed her eyes and spoke:  
"_Mea inferus Deae.  
Soror acta accidentaliter.  
Benedicta tu in me aliquid,  
me permittas accipere dolor sorores meas agree auferet.  
In nomine tuo et divinitatem sanare huius superficiei habitantis,  
corpus et indestria."_

"What are you yammering about?" Jack grumbled before his elbows seemed to give way and he fell flat on the floor. Heat rushed through his injured knee and the next thing he knew, he had jumped up from his back to his feet. He lifted up Scarlette by the collar.  
"What did you do to me?!"

"Jack...She _healed _you." Crow said in shock.

Jack dropped Scarlette, remembering that he'd been shot in the first place. He felt no pain and in fact, felt more energized that he did moments ago.  
"How did you...?"

Yusei remember when Scarlette cleared away his headache. "So you _can_ heal."

Scarlette blushed.

Bruno snapped his fingers. "I was wondering what Life did."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

It took some time, but Jack and Claire managed to make peace.  
"Now all that needs to be done is for Claire to apologize for shooting Jack in the leg." Scarlette stated.

"I'll apologize when the Dark Dolls make herbal tea for the Mid Berth mannequins." Claire snapped.

"I have no idea what that means, but I'll assume it's a no." Yusei stated.

"It's a hell no." Claire said.

"Fine! I didn't want your tainted, Nether apology." Jack spat at Claire.

Claire stepped towards him.  
"Keep talking and my next bullet will be in your front teeth!"

"Claire! Jack! Please...stop." Scarlette pleaded.

Claire paused, hurt by her sisters pain.  
"Come home with me Scarlette." She requested, changing the subject.

Scarlette shook her head and Crow spoke for her.  
"She wants to stay up here."

Claire blinked.  
"Nonsense! She belongs in the Lower Berth!"

Scarlette stretched her arms at her sister.  
"No, Claire. He's telling the truth. I love it up here."

"What are you talking about, Scarlette?" Claire choked. "What could possibly be up here to love?"

Scarlette stepped back, almost backing into Crow.  
"It's true that I'm not welcome up here...But I have a safe place to stay and I have friends up here."

"You have friends at home as well, Scarlette." Claire replied.

"They're not my friends, Claire...They're my family and old classmates. Not only that, but they respect me for all the wrong reasons."

"Scarlette-"

"Oh, for Gods sake!" Cyan shouted. "If she wants to risk her life to stay up here and be happy, then let her!"

"I agree with..." Bruno paused. "...What's your name?"

"Cyan." He replied.

"Hey wait a minute..." Crow sized Cyan up a bit. "Weren't you part of that group that tried to stone Scarlette at the church?"

Bruno and Yusei shot their attention towards Cyan and recognized him also.  
"Hey! You are him!" Yusei stated.

Claire shot her head to the side, to glare at Cyan.  
"You forgot to mention that you tried to stone my sister..."

"I'm sorry...I was under the impression that those people were alright...Okay?" Cyan spat.

"He did defend me too..." Scarlette said. "I'd see him as an acquaintance."

"Scarlette...You're far too trusting." Claire protested.

"These Surface Dwellers have come to deserve my trust, Claire." Scarlette said. "In time, you'll find something to love about up here if you give it a chance."

"But what if you disappear like Sable did?" Claire argued more. "Or worse?"

"Who's Sable?" Yusei asked.

"My other sister." Scarlette answered. "She left the Berth almost a year ago now and we haven't seen or heard from her since she left."

Bruno blinked a few times.  
"So this is your sister here...and you have another sister lost out there somewhere...How many sisters do you have exactly?"

Scarlette giggled.  
"Two more and one brother."

"Enough small talk." Claire said, taking Scarlette by the wrist gently and dragging her outside. "Now what do I have to say to make you come home?"

"You didn't hear a word I said, did you?" Cyan huffed, only to be shushed by Claire.

Scarlette and Claire lingered in the doorway to avoid being recognized as Nether Dwellers.  
"You want the truth, Claire?" Scarlette breathed. "I'll go home when Wes passes on."

"Stop being so silly and paranoid, Scarlette." Claire replied. "Wes is in love with you and authentically wants you for his bride."

"Wes is evil!" Scarlette cried. "When I look into his eyes, I see nothing. I know he's incapable of loving anyone but himself."

"Then why did he ask father for your hand in marriage?"

"I don't know...But I don't like the feeling I get when I'm near him." Scarlette grabbed Claire by the sleeves. "Claire...Please...You have to help me. I don't want to go back there...I want to stay here."

Claire shook her head.  
"Scarlette...What is up here worth..."  
She paused, noticing Scarlette and Crow exchanging looks from a distance. Claire grabbed Scarlettes chin and forced her sister into direct eye contact. Yellow latched on to green. "No... Scarlette...You know the consequences of letting a surface dweller be your claimer!"

"He hasn't claimed me, Claire!" Scarlette replied in anger, shoving Claire away.

Claire shook her head in anger, clearly out of words to say.  
"Fine. Stay up here, but don't expect me to stick my neck out for you when you get into trouble for it. Isn't it obvious that they know where you are now?"

Scarlette hung her head.  
"I'll find something out."

Claire turned.  
"I hope you do, Scarlette...I really do." She then walked away.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Cyan asked, standing. "You're just gonna get up and leave your sister?"

"You said yourself, Cyan..." Claire paused. "If she wants to risk everything, desert the Goddess and stay up here until Wes, or possibly worse, our father comes up here to get her...Why not let her be happy?"

Tears formed in Scarlettes eyes.  
"Claire...I'm not deserting the Berth, or the Goddess... Wes is the one who deserts the Goddess...Believe me, please. Wes is not the good soul he claims to be."

Claire blinked slowly, showing minor disbelief before turning her back again and walking, ignoring Scarlettes pleas for her to come back.

...

Claire chanted the Machinima prayer and touched the wall of the old abandoned factory and opened the passage way to the Machinima district. She went to regroup with Melanie in the Berth Square and met with the Priestess that Jarrod had been speaking with.

"I know you found her..." The Priestess implied.

Claire blinked.  
"What do you mean, Priestess?"

"You don't have to fear..." The Priestess replied. "I had a vision of Scarlette...Your sister is more safe on the surface. Much more safe than she will be down here, Madam Noire."

Claire blinked.  
"I repeat my previous question, Priestess...What do you mean?"

The Priestess spotted two members of the Death Diet and quietly produced a spell book, handing it to Claire. She then whispered to Claire: "The Life Soul Trade Ritual." Before fleeing quickly.

"Wait!" Claire called. "Come back! What do you mean, Priestess?!"  
It was too late, the Priestess was gone, leaving Claire with the book of 3 thousand pages in her hands.  
Claire knew she needed a Magic elemental, so she made her way to Amilya's home as quickly as she could without looking suspicious.

Claire knocked on Amilya's door and she answered.  
"Claire? What brings you to the Magic District?"

Claire showed the book.  
"Its Scarlette."

"Is she alright?" Amilya asked, echoing concern.

"I'm not sure...but a Magic Priestess gave me this book and told me 'The Life Soul Trade Ritual'...I thought you could tell me what that could mean."

Amilya's eyes grew large and pale.  
"Big sister...Did you mention the 'Life Soul Trade Ritual'?"

"I think that's what she said." Claire replied.

Amilya seized the book and put it on the nearest table. In a panic, she flipped through the pages.  
"The Life Soul Trade Ritual is a controversial ritual that hasn't been preformed since the Great Separation. During the war between the Nether and Surface Dwellers...The Life elemental Chiefteness' daughter, who was a Magic elemental gave her body to a dark entity...The Imitation Goddess." Amilya read on before her eye was drawn to a sketch portrait of the Chiefteness' daughter. She stared down at the greyscale portrait into the eyes of another Scarlette.  
"The Chiefteness' daughter promised her body and soul to the Imitation Goddess and when Priests and Priestesses of all elements band together to exorcize the Goddess from the girl's body, she did not survive the exorcism. Her dying words were a promise to the banished Goddess."

Amilya flipped to the next page and stared down at the sketch on the page in horror. An undressed girl with the Life elemental symbol above her body chained to a stone table with a black woman's figure silhouetting from her body.

"What does it say, Amilya?" Claire asked in desperation.

"Her promise to the Imitation Goddess was...That a Death elemental with control over an untouched, female elemental of Life can resurrect her through the body and soul of the Life elemental..." Amilya locked eyes with Claire with a look of sheer terror. "Claire! It all makes sense! The Life Soul Trade Ritual is the painful process of ripping the Life element out of the elementals body, thus removing her soul so the essence of the Imitation Goddess can use the empty shell as a vessel!"

Claire paused.  
"Melanie told me that Wes is obsessed with the legend of the Imitation Goddesses power."

Amilya read on.  
"It also says here that the Imitation Goddess vowed to give Life to a different-" She paused and put her hand over her mouth. "Scarlette...Was a stillborn Earth elemental..."

"Mother told us that a Death Priest cast a spell, bringing her to life with the element...Wes' father!"

Amilya and Claire looked at each other.  
"Wes' family has been sitting this whole event up!"

"So now you know..." Wes' cold voice thundered from behind them. He stood in the doorway and the room seemed to frost over as he dwelled further into Amilya's home.

"How? How can you even think about doing that to Scarlette? Let alone anybody!" Claire shouted in horror. "Should have believed Scarlette about you, Wesker! You are evil!"

"It runs in the family lines, Claire." Wes said, putting a cold hand on her cheek. "My father was evil...My mother is evil..."

"I am aware of your mother and father..." Amilya snapped. "Your father fell victim to who your mother really was... A black widow... She belongs in the Mid Berth! You belong there too for thinking about the Life Soul Trade!"

"Don't talk about Velarine that way." Jarrod said, stepping into the house. "She was a talented bounty hunter who fell victim to the insanity of the Mid Berth."

"Oh, father! Thank the Goddess!" Claire exclaimed in relief. Scarlette was surely saved now. "Have Wesker's entire family arrested!"

"He has deceived you!" Amilya added, pointing an accusing finger at Wes, who stood there grinning.

Jarrod ran his fingers through Claire's ponytail and tousled Amilya's platinum locks in a gesture that was too cold to be loving and fatherly.  
"Daughters..." He said. "Neither Wesker, nor his father have deceived me...Trion Greyherzen had my permission to promise Scarlette to the Imitation Goddess in exchange for the Life element to befall her and Wesker has my permission to perform the Life Soul Trade."

Claire and Amilya looked at their father in horror. It was like a bad dream to hear him speaking of having his youngest daughter killed.  
"Why father?" Amilya asked.

"Because." Daimler answered, coming through the door passed Wes. "With the Imitation Goddess free once more, we can take back what was taken from us all those years ago. The Surface world belongs to us by right!"  
He was dressed in a red and black elaborate trench coat with golden trimmings, labeling him as the Berths leader. Behind him stood two of his guards, one Earth elemental man and one Water elemental woman, dressed in black and gold also.

"Uncle Daimler, we've been down here for years." Claire argued.

"All the more reason to change our lives for the better and be a credit to our ancestors!" Daimler replied dramatically.

Amilya stared at him in terror.  
"Uncle Daimler...You've gone mad with power." (1)

Jarrod then had Claire escorted back to her home in the Machinima district, he later paid her a visit.  
"Claire..."

"You monster!" Claire exclaimed in anger and disgust.

Jarrod smacked her across the face with such force her neck cracked upon turning.  
"You dare address your father like that!? I am responsible for your creation and I can be responsible for your destruction!"

Claire choked back her tears, refusing to show weakness.  
"I apologize, father." She bowed her head. "Good Judge Noire."

"That's better." Jarrod cooed, placing a kiss on Claire's edema stricken cheek. "Now my child...I am giving you one warning and one warning alone! You are not to leave your home...The same warning has been issued to Amilya. I will be sending Diet agents to your home randomly to check on you."

"But father...I found Scarlette. I could bring her home." Claire argued.

"No need, my sweet child." Jarrod said. "Claeo and Acitra D'Omen have been dispatched to bring your sister home at all cost...and they will not fail, like Alois did."

...

The sun set in the west horizon as two Death elemental women, twin sisters stood at the outskirts of the city. Both of them were tall and slender, dressed in black tights and boots and white corsets outlined with black trimmings. A black trench coat covered to shoulders of the sister with a head of short black hair with one side shaved completely, Acitra.  
Claeo, the other sister had long black hair with straight bangs that covered the top of her eyes.

"Come sister." Acitra said to Claeo. "I can feel her Life energy."

...

Claire paced around her house beside herself with worry for Scarlette. She knelt down by her fire place and lit a fire. She folded her shaky hands and spoke.  
"Goddess...Please...If my sister, Sable is still alive on the surface...Please...Carry my message to her." She paused before speaking again, her eyes locked on to the fire.

...

In a small house located at the edge of Crash Town, a tall and well built Nether Dweller clad in black pants, brown shoes and a blue sleeveless crop-top brushed her back length black hair aside and blew her blue bangs out of her eyes. She was in the middle of washing a plate when her vision was obstructed by a silver mist behind her white eyes.  
In the middle of the silver mist was a pair of Golden eyes, Claire's voice echoed inside her head.

"Sable...It's Claire...If you can hear me... Scarlette has escaped the Berth and his hiding with some Surface dwellers in a shop located in New Domino City... She's in danger, Sable. Wesker plans on using her to perform the Life Soul Trade and the D'Omen sisters have been dispatched to her location... Please Sable... Find a way to New Domino City and protect our sister."

The image melted away and Sable blinked several times before dashing out of her house and running down the street of the small, desert town.  
"KALIN!" She called.

...

**Authors Note:**

– "**Of course I've gone mad with power. Have you ever tried going mad without power? It's boring, nobody listens to you."  
~ Quote from 'The Simpsons Movie'.**


	16. Important Note for The Readers

To my readers.

As of May 30th, my laptop cannot access Internet explorer, therefor I am borrowing a tablet to do all my Internet needs such as checking email, tending to my deviantart account and answering messages/replying to reviews here on ff.

I cannot post chapters on this tablet because all my chapter documents are on my laptop and will have to be transferred to my new one, once I get a chance to get one. However, at the rate things are going here, I won't be able to get a new laptop til August when the school sales are going on. But I promise, I will try t get a hold of one sooner.

Until I find a new laptop, new chapters for "5Ds: Rise of the Nether Signer", "Bullet Witch: Loves Light and Hates Darkness", "Dead Terra: Apocalypse" and other active stories will be have to be put on hold.  
Ill update this message as soon as I know when I'll be getting a new laptop.

Until then, please hold tight, ill get to work on new chapters as soon as I can.

Love from  
Bae. Aka. AnarchyGunRage.


End file.
